Dolly Parton Receives Incredible Honor!

Anyone familiar with Dolly Parton knows that she has a generous heart. She has never forgotten her roots. While she is no longer poor, she always remembers what it was like to grow up in extreme poverty.

Two decades ago, the Country star began sending books to infants and preschoolers in Sevier County, Tennessee as part of her Imagination Library. That program expanded well beyond Tennessee and mails books monthly to children. Amazingly, Dolly has actually donated 100 million books to children in need since she started the Library!

Dolly has invested a tremendous amount of money and effort to promote literacy among America’s young children. She was honored at the Library of Congress in March for this major accomplishment.

The singer’s inspiration for the Imagination Library was her beloved father, who was never taught to read or write. This very smart man was limited by this. She wanted to do this generous deed in his honor.

“My dad didn’t get the chance to go to school. And Daddy couldn’t read and write, and that was kind of crippling to him,” Dolly said. “He was such a smart man, though. He just had such good common sense. They call it horse sense in the country.”

“But Daddy thought it was just something he couldn’t learn after he was grown, so he never tried to learn to read and write. And that was just kind of embarrassing to him,” she stated. “But I didn’t want Daddy to feel embarrassed.”

“We never thought it would be this big,” the Country legend continued. “I just wanted to do something great for my dad and for my home county and, at the most, maybe a couple of counties over. But then it just took wings of its own, and I guess it was meant to be.”

You can watch Dolly Parton speak about her father and the Imagination Library in the video below.

What a wonderful way to honor her father by encouraging children to love to read. This woman has a huge heart!

Please share this wonderful act of charity to remind people it is so important to give back! 

Source: NPR