In 1988 Dolly Parton pulled every 7th and 8th grader in Sevier County into a room and told them to pick a buddy.
She made them sign a contract.. if BOTH graduate, she hands you both $500. One fails, nobody gets paid.
The county dropout rate went from 35% to 6%.
She handed out the checks herself.
In 1989 she offered $500 to every kid in the county who wanted to go to the local college.
When Gatlinburg burned in 2016, she sent 900 families $1,000 a month for six months.
You've probably heard that part.
Here's the part you haven't:
The fund raised more than expected, so she showed up in May and handed every one of those families another $5,000 on top.
Then she quietly put $3 million into the recovery group that handles the years after the news trucks leave.
She built her county an entire hospital.
She played a benefit concert in 2007, Dollywood and the Stampede matched it, and LeConte Medical Center opened in 2010 with a birthing unit and a women's center in it.
In 2022 she started covering 100% of tuition, books, and fees for Dollywood employees.
Full-time, part-time, AND seasonal.
In 1991 she paid for a bald eagle sanctuary because the birds couldn't be released back into the wild, no press release.
And when Hurricane Helene came through here in Western North Carolina, she wrote a personal check for $1 million and her companies matched it.
She didn't owe North Carolina anything, but she helped us anyway.
She started the Imagination Library because her daddy couldn't read or write. Before he passed, he told her it was the most important thing she ever did.
Rest in Peace, Dolly ๐บ๐ธ
@GovernorObaseki@iomoiguiokauru Thank you, your excellency, for honoring my dad. He would have appreciated it.
Congratulations on the successful completion of your tenure as Edo State Governor.
We are all grateful.
Today, while commissioning the Edo Built Environment Hub, I immortalised Nigeria's first Surveyor-General of the Federation, Late Daniel Omoigui, by naming the stateโs Geographic Information Service (EdoGIS) complex after this Edo legend.
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Today is the 3rd anniversary of my brother's passing.
Nowa Omoigui, MD, MPH, FACC.
Nearly every day I'm reminded of how much of an incredible dad, brother & intellect he was.
Happy to see folks appreciate his work on Nigeria's civil-military relations.
Collected works OTW.
RIP.
@bosuntijani HM, @nosao is very heavily invested in artificial intelligence and will be a brilliant addition to the team. Founder https://t.co/aO5BqkXWjI and formerly of @Microsoft and @Amazon.
@BarackObama May his soul Rest in Peace. Thank you for sharing his story especially to those of us that had never heard of him. In death, he inspires us to continue to do good regardless of the challenges we face. May his dear wife and entire family be consoled and yet thankful for his life
Wonder Boy https://t.co/Qi6GuQuMOF
This excerpt from the book on the late Zappos founder, Tony Hsieh, makes me sad.
Sounds like he became a narco-fueled shell of himself, creating ideal conditions for opportunists to take advantage of all that moolah.
He was a GREAT guy.๐
RIP.
Olla,
my name is EyiyemiOlivia ROGBINYIN.
I play โIya ONIDIRI โ in the Africa Magic Epic Series โIturaโ.
Itura airs on Africa Magic Showcase, DSTV 151 Monday to Friday at 8:30pm with reruns on Sunday at 3pm or/and stream on the Showmax App and Dstv Catch up.