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 🇺🇸
Fans gathered at a D.C. Costco to meet Morris Chestnut as he debuted Sable, a bourbon he founded with fellow Best Man cast members. https://t.co/Atyu2Rmsa0
This is the level of reason and discernment we are sometimes missing since some OG squad left… missing this right now and Dr. Zanye, so leaving this right here…
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are moving back to the U.K. with their children after living in California for the past six years:
• The transition back to Britain is set to begin in the coming weeks.
• The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will maintain their home in Montecito, Calif., and the location of their new home is currently unknown
https://t.co/GMqPeUKDmW