How Dolly Parton helped the world - from children’s books to supporting Covid vaccine

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The Imagination Library opened in the UK in 2007ByTiffany WertheimerDolly Parton will not only be remembered for her iconic songs and Southern charm, but also for her ph...

August 26, 2026

ByTiffany Wertheimer

Dolly Parton will not only be remembered for her iconic songs and Southern charm, but also for her philanthropic work.

Throughout her life, she supported communities in need, especially in her home state of Tennessee. She funded medical research that led to one of the first Covid-19 vaccines, donated to wildfire victims and even helped the once-endangered bald eagle, America's national bird.

But it is her Imagination Library - the mainstay of her charity work - that has helped millions of children learn to read by sending out free books.

The programme was inspired by her father who couldn't read or write.

"I think deep down inside, my daddy was prouder of [the library] than he even was of my career," she wrote.

Parton established her non-profit organisation, the Dollywood Foundation, in 1988, to help bolster children's education. Its efforts are practical - like sending out books - and often goes directly to the grass roots, where it can really make a difference, fast.

In the early 90s, Parton said she'd give every seventh and eighth-grade student (ages 12 to 14) in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she grew up, $500 if they graduated high school. They had to have a buddy, to keep each other in check - which in turn made more children graduate.

Sure, it was a bit of a bribe, but it worked - the drop out rate went from 35% to 6%, according to the foundation's website.

"I'm kind of addicted to the feeling of giving," she once said. "Knowing that I'm doing something good for someone else."

Parton was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2022, which honoured her as "one of the entertainment world's most generous philanthropists".

'All children should grow up in a home full of books'

Dolly Parton was one of 12 children born into a poor family that lived in a one-bedroom cabin in the Smoky Mountains. Her hardworking father, Robert Lee Parton, was a tobacco farmer.

"He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams," Dolly wrote.

Inspired by this, the Imagination Library was launched in 1995, with the help of Robert Parton. It sends out free books to children younger than five every month.

The programme was originally set up just for those in Sevier County - but it quickly went national and then global. The Imagination Library now sends books to children across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland and Australia.

According to its website, more than 332.4 million books have been sent out.

For many children who have never owned their own book, it is a special gift just for them.

"It's the fact they get recognised," Parton once said. "They get this little book with their little name on it in the mail, and they feel special... they know that somebody out there is thinking of them."

"That vision she had about books and this understanding of sharing stories was remarkable," Eileen Driver, the chair of the Stokesley Imagination Library in the UK, told the BBC's Radio Tees.

Scottish National Party councillor, Lee Mills - admittedly a superfan from a young age - said when he was elected he set out to bring the Imagination Library to Dundee.

"Dolly's legacy will last with every page turned of a children's book. I will do my utmost best to ensure that this is delivered to every child in Scotland," he told the BBC.

British author Selina Brown, whose book My Rice is Best was one of those selected to be distributed, told the BBC it was quite emotional to see 14,000 copies of her book being packed up, ready to post.

"For my book in particular, the protagonist is black. It helps with representation, it helps with real life situations and having a book that speaks directly to you and speaks to a different world is important."

During Covid, Parton started reading some of the books aloud, in recordings on YouTube for children - many of whom didn't know who she was.

"You mean she sings, too?" exclaimed one boy when he found out, Linda Jinnette Cooper wrote on the library's Facebook page.

Jolene turns to vaccine

In 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic gripped the world, Parton encouraged people to get vaccinated and donated $1m (£716,000) to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, which helped fund the Moderna vaccine.

A portion of the money went towards funding an early stage-trial of the Moderna vaccine, which found it to offer nearly 95% protection against severe Covid-19.

Reimagining her hit song, Jolene, Parton changed the lyrics to "vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I'm begging of you, please don't hesitate".

She showed herself being injected, saying: "I'm old enough to get it and I'm smart enough to get it."

Parton donated to medical research several times over the years.

A benefit concert in 2007 raised $1m for a new hospital and cancer centre in Sevier County, which includes a Dolly Parton Center for Women's Services.

Ten years later, she released a children's album, I Believe in You, and donated another $1m, this time to Nashville's Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, after her niece was treated for leukaemia there.

She donated yet another $1m to the hospital a few years later, this time to help paediatric infectious disease research.

"I love children," Parton said in a statement at the time. "No child should ever have to suffer, and I'm willing to do my part to try and keep as many of them as I can as healthy and safe as possible."

And earlier this year, the East Tennessee Children's Hospital announced it would be renamed to the Dolly Parton Children's Hospital, after the star partnered with the not-for-profit facility.

Supporting disaster victims

The Dollywood Foundation has a scholarships programme for high school seniors, which offers $15,000 to five students "who have a dream they wish to pursue".

It has also donated to the Salvation Army and helped the victims of several disasters in Tennessee.

After a deadly fire in Sevier County in 2016, Parton held a telethon that raised more than $13m. Kenny Rogers, Chris Stapleton, Reba McEntire and Cyndi Lauper were some of the big names who joined the event.

Parton continued her support by pledging $1,000 per month for six months to about 900 families who had lost their homes.

Five years later, when Middle Tennessee was devastated by flooding, Parton helped to raise $700,000 for residents.

"I'm just so proud to have been a part of anything that's good and that's making life a little better for people," she told Good Morning America the same year.

Her Dollywood amusement park has a lot more than rollercoasters - it's also home to the largest sanctuary for non-releasable bald eagles in the world.

Managed by the American Eagle Foundation, its rehabilitation and breeding work has won awards and in 2007, the bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list.

In 2022, Parton's charity work to improve education was extended to adults, when it was announced that any Dollywood employee - whether they were seasonal, part-time or full-time, would have 100% of their tuition and books paid for if they furthered their education.

In announcing her death on Tuesday, Parton's team asked fans to donate to the Imagination Library, instead of sending flowers, so that her legacy can continue for many years to come.

"When I'm done, I can rest in peace knowing I've done my best," Parton once said.

"I hope that when my time comes, I'll leave something behind that others can use to lift themselves up."

Additional reporting by Olivia Ireland