Dolly Parton Give Back
Dolly Parton, through her Dollywood Foundation’s My People Fund, has donated $200,000 to volunteer fire departments in rural Tennessee who helped battle the deadly wildfires that swept through the area in 2016.
The Tennessean reports that eight volunteer fire departments Sevier County, her home county, received $20,000, while $40,000 went to the county’s training center.
Dolly also spent part of last Saturday, March 16th meeting the various fire chiefs. She said,
“It is only fitting that the last of the My People Fund will go to those who were the first to respond to the fires.”
Dolly created the My People Fund in 2016, just days after the wildfires that lasted five days, killing fourteen people and destroying more than 2,500 homes. Dolly’s My People Fund also provided $1,000 checks monthly for a six-month period after the fire to 885 families in the area who lost their homes. Thanks to the more than $9 million raised during a telethon, Dolly bumped each of the 885 families’ last check to $5,000, giving each family a total of $10,000 in aid from the My People Fund.
