08/26/2026
I am not sure our 9, 10 & 11 year old players know what we lost today but I am positive they will learn of the Legacy of Dolly over their lifetimes. RIP Dolly. You were a truly special person.
“We could afford the price of peace. Love is all it costs.”
Dolly Parton has spent decades using her wealth to lift up low-income families and children, driven by her own experience growing up in deep poverty in rural Appalachia. Through The Dollywood Foundation, her philanthropic work fundamentally transformed early childhood literacy, high school graduation rates, and regional economic stability.
Transforming Early Childhood Literacy The Imagination Library: In 1995, Dolly launched Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in honor of her father, who never learned to read or write. Free Monthly Books: The program sends a free, high-quality, age-appropriate book every single month to children from birth until age five. No Income Restrictions: To avoid stigmatizing poor families, the program is universally available to all children in participating communities, regardless of family income. What started as a local initiative has gifted over 300 million books across the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and Ireland.
Keeping Vulnerable Youth in School The Buddy Program: In 1991, Dolly addressed severe high school dropout rates in her native Sevier County, Tennessee. Financial Incentives: She had 7th and 8th graders "buddy up" and personally promised each student $500 cash if both successfully graduated. The program dramatically plunged the local high school dropout rate from 35% down to just 6%.
Higher Education: She established numerous college scholarships to ensure that low-income youth could afford higher education.
Providing Local Economic Opportunity Job Creation via Dollywood: In 1986, she opened the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Rather than abandoning her impoverished hometown, she built a major commercial destination to create thousands of stable jobs for locals.
The My People Fund: After devastating wildfires swept the Smoky Mountains in 2016, her foundation distributed $1,000 a month for six months to over 900 displaced households, no questions asked, to prevent families from falling into permanent poverty.
