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![]() The Dollywood Foundation Logo | |
Formation | 1986 |
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Founder | Dolly Parton |
Headquarters | Sevierville, Tennessee |
Location |
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The Dollywood Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Dolly Parton, with headquarters in Sevierville, Tennessee (as of 2022). Shortly after the opening of the Dollywood theme park in 1986, the Dollywood Foundation was created in April 1988, and began by offering scholarships to local high school students. [1] From there it grew into the Imagination Library, started in 1995, which distributes free books to children monthly, up until the age of 5. [2] The Dollywood Foundation grew again into the My People Fund, which started in 2016 after wildfires ripped through Tennessee. [3] The current President of the Dollywood Company is Craig Ross. Today, the foundation continues to grant scholarships and awards, and provides support to numerous non-profit organizations that aim to improve the quality of life of children and others in need. [4]
The Imagination Library is a free children's book gifting program started by Dolly Parton in 1995. It is based at her Dollywood theme park near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. [5] The program started by offering every child in Sevier County, Tennessee, the area where Parton was born and raised, a free age-appropriate book each month in the mail until the age of five, regardless of family income. In 2000, the Imagination Library became so popular that Dolly announced that she wanted to make the program available to any community that would partner with her and support it locally. The program has since expanded to over 1,800 local communities in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. [2] The program can be implemented in other communities by private or public non-profit organizations, and the Foundation is responsible for the distribution of books in those participating communities and the database that manages the children's information. In 2018, Parton celebrated the delivery of the 100 millionth book since the inception of the program. The Library of Congress hosted an event in February 2018 commemorating the milestone with Parton holding a Story Time to children attending the event. The Imagination Library program currently sends roughly 1.3 million books to children every month. As of 2021, at least 1.7 million children in the U.S. were enrolled, with a net monthly increase of 20,000 to 30,000 children. The program has drastically improved literacy for the children enrolled. [2] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
In November 2016, two teenage boys were charged with setting a fire in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, known as the 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires, which killed fourteen people, including two children, and burned down thousands of homes and businesses. [13] Charges against the two juvenile suspects were later dropped due to insufficient evidence. [14] Dolly gathered her Dollywood companies (Dolly Parton’s Stampede, Dolly Parton’s Lumberjack Adventure, Pirates Voyage, The Dollywood Company) and to establish the ‘My People Fund’ [15] which ultimately donated $1,000 per month to Sevier County households who lost their homes in the fire. Those collecting charitable donations from the Dollywood Foundation could collect their funds for up to six months. [16] Significant donors to the fund include Verizon, Tanger Outlets, Miley Cyrus’ Happy Hippie Foundation, CoreCivic and The Blalock Company. [17] The My People Fund raised over $9 million and assisted more than 900 families. [18]
Having graduated from Sevier County High School in 1964, Dolly Parton launched The Dollywood Foundation in 1988 with the initial intention of raising scholarship funds for local high school students. [19] The Dolly Parton Scholarship was first offered in August 2000. The scholarship would grant a total of $15,000 to four students. With further sponsorship, the scholarship was later offered to four additional high schools including Seymour, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg-Pittman. [20]
When the Imagination Library reached its 100-million total book distribution mark, Dolly Parton announced she would be awarding a scholarship to a participant in the library’s program. In November 2016, Parton granted a $30,000 scholarship to a two-year-old girl, one of the library’s newest participants. The little girl was announced as the winner during the Pure & Simple Tour stop in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The money was placed in an account that will hold the money until the girl enrolls in college. The scholarship, after the 16-year wait, will amount to nearly $50,000. [21]
The Chasing Rainbows Award was created by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) in Parton's name. First presented to Dolly in 2002, the award is now given annually to a deserving teacher who has overcome hardship. The Imagination Library has since partnered with the NNSTOY. [22]
By 2006 the Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library had spread to 471 communities in 41 states. [23] The overall rating of the organization was given 4 out of 4 stars by Charity Navigator. [24] The foundation later spread to the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia and Canada. The program helps about 1 million children each month. It is broken down into 6 groups that give recommendations on books depending on when the child was born. [23]
The foundation also gives out scholarships. On April 30, 1988, at Dollywood, Dolly Parton launched the Buddy Program that required a local high school student and one friend to sign a contract agreeing that both pupils must graduate and upon completion each of them would receive $500. The Buddy Program caused the drop-out rate to go down to 6% and kick started her community into creating initiatives to keep kids in school. Awards are made in the following areas: music, academics, and the environment. [25]
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily for her decades-long career in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album debut in 1967 with Hello, I'm Dolly, which led to success during the remainder of the 1960s, before her sales and chart peak came during the 1970s and continued into the 1980s. Some of Parton's albums in the 1990s did not sell as well, but she achieved commercial success again in the new millennium and has released albums on various independent labels since 2000, including her own label, Dolly Records.
Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Pigeon Forge is a tourist destination that caters primarily to Southern culture and country music fans. The city's attractions include Dollywood and Dollywood's Splash Country, WonderWorks, Alcatraz East Crime Museum, Dolly Parton's Stampede, as well as numerous gift shops, outlet malls, amusement rides, and musical theaters.
Dollywood is a theme park that is jointly owned by Herschend Family Entertainment and country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton through her entertainment company, Dolly Parton Productions. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. Hosting nearly 3 million guests in a typical season from mid-March to the Christmas holidays, Dollywood is the biggest ticketed tourist attraction in Tennessee. It has won many international awards.
Herschend Family Entertainment (HFE) is a privately owned themed-entertainment company that operates several theme parks and tourist attractions within the United States, and as of 2021, one aquarium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Dollywood's Splash Country is a 35-acre (14 ha) water park located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, adjacent to the Dollywood theme park. The park's central theme rests around entertainer Dolly Parton's childhood swimming in the rivers of the Great Smoky Mountains. Dollywood's Splash Country operates from May through September.
A Real Live Dolly is the first live album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on June 29, 1970, by RCA Victor. The album was produced by Bob Ferguson and was recorded on April 15, 1970, at Sevier County High School in Sevierville, Tennessee. It peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number 154 on the Billboard 200 chart.
"Coat of Many Colors" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Dolly Parton. It was released in September 1971 as the second single and title track from the album Coat of Many Colors.
Hargus Melvin Robbins, known by his nickname "Pig", was an American session keyboard player, having played on records for many artists, including Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith, Patti Page, Loretta Lynn, Kenny Rogers, George Jones, Charlie Rich, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, J.J. Cale, John Hartford, John Stewart, Mark Knopfler, Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, David Allan Coe, Moe Bandy, George Hamilton IV, Sturgill Simpson, Conway Twitty, Ween, and Al Hirt.
The Chasing RainbowsMuseum was a museum based on the country music singer Dolly Parton. It is located in the Dollywood theme park, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, United States.
The Better Day World Tour was the tenth concert tour by American recording artist, Dolly Parton. Visiting North America, Europe and Australia, the tour supported her 41st studio album, Better Day. With nearly 275,000 tickets sold, and an overall gross of $34 million, it is Parton's most successful tour. The tour was her first visit to Australia in 30 years.
Hollywood to Dollywood is an American documentary film that played at 60 film festivals in the U.S., Canada, Scotland, and Australia in 2011 and 2012. Directed by John Lavin, the film follows the cross-country journey of identical twins Gary and Larry Lane to deliver to Dolly Parton a screenplay they wrote, which includes a role for her. Hollywood to Dollywood has won 24 film festival awards and includes 17 Parton songs, two of which were previously unreleased. The film had a one-week theatrical release in New York beginning August 31, 2012, followed a week later in Los Angeles.
Gary Lane and Larry Lane are identical twin actors, models, film producers and screenwriters. The twins have appeared in feature films and national TV ads and are three-time grand prize champions of reality TV competitions. They are best known for a film they co-produced and appeared in, Hollywood to Dollywood, a feature-length documentary released theatrically in 2012. The film, about their quest to personally deliver a screenplay they've written to singer-actress Dolly Parton, played at 60 film festivals and won 24 festival awards.
The Blue Smoke World Tour is the eleventh concert tour by American recording artist Dolly Parton. The tour promotes Parton's 42nd studio album, Blue Smoke. Beginning in January 2014, the tour played forty-seven shows in North America, Oceania, and Europe. On Pollstar's Mid Year Top 100 Worldwide Tours list, released in July 2014 and ranking tours up until that date, the Blue Smoke World Tour ranked at number 23 with $23.3 million in grosses and 210,288 tickets sold for 38 shows.
Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors is a 2015 American made-for-television drama film based on a true story by Dolly Parton, written by Pamela K. Long and directed by Stephen Herek. The film premiered on NBC on December 10, 2015. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.
Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love is a 2016 American made-for-television drama film based on a true story by Dolly Parton, written by Pamela K. Long and directed by Stephen Herek. The film is a sequel to Coat of Many Colors and premiered on NBC on November 30, 2016.
The 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires, also known as the Gatlinburg wildfires, were a complex of wildfires which began in late November 2016. Some of the towns most impacted were Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, both near Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The fires claimed at least 14 lives, injured 190, and is one of the largest natural disasters in the history of Tennessee.
I Believe in You is the forty-sixth solo studio album and first children's album by American country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released digitally on September 29, 2017, and physically on October 13, 2017, by Dolly Records and RCA Nashville. All proceeds from the album's sales will go to benefit Parton's Imagination Library.
William Earl Owens was an American country music songwriter. He was the uncle of Dolly Parton. Over the course of his career, he wrote or co-wrote more than 800 songs, including “Put It Off Until Tomorrow," which he co-wrote with Parton. The song won the 1966 BMI Song of the Year award.
Crissy Haslam is an American philanthropist and children's and education advocate. She was the First lady of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019 and her husband, Bill Haslam, served as Governor of Tennessee for the same amount of time.
Steven Kent Summers is an American costumer and creative director for Dolly Parton. He has been styling Dolly Parton for more than 30 years.