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Dolly Parton Steps Up To Give An Incredible $1 Million Donation

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Aside from being a country music legend, Dolly Parton is also known for her philanthropy. She showed that once again last week when she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for pediatric infectious disease research.

‘No Child Should Ever Have To Suffer’

“No child should ever have to suffer. I’m willing to do my part to try and keep as many of them as I can as healthy and safe as possible,” Parton, 76, said in a press release announcing her donation, according to Vanity Fair.

The money Parton gifted will be used to study what causes these diseases and to both prevent and treat infections in children who have cancer. It will also be used to understand the resistance that children with cancer build to antibiotics.

This cause is a personal one for Parton, as her niece Hannah Dennison was successfully treated for leukemia in her youth at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital through the Vanderbilt Pediatric Cancer Program.

“Dolly’s previous support to infectious disease research, and also our pediatric cancer program, has already saved countless lives. This new gift will bolster our defenses against future threats to the safety of this region and society as a whole,” said Dr. Jeff Balser, the president and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Find out more about this donation in the video below.

Parton’s COVID-19 Vaccine Donation

This comes two years after Parton donated $1 million to this facility to fund research that would go on to help create the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine.

“My longtime friend Dr. Naji Abumrad, who’s been involved in research at Vanderbilt for many years, informed me that they were making some exciting advancements towards research of the coronavirus for a cure,” Parton said at the time.

“I am making a donation of $1 million to Vanderbilt towards that research and to encourage people that can afford it to make donations,” she continued.

Watch Parton talk more about that donation in the video below.

Parton’s Other Philanthropic Efforts

Parton’s other philanthropic efforts include donating $700,000 to help Tennessee flood victims last year and creating The Buddy Program in the early 1990s to lower high school dropout rates at the high school that she attended herself decades ago in Sevier County, Tennessee.

One of Parton’s biggest philanthropic accomplishments is her Imagination Library, which she launched in 1995 and has since donated almost 170 million books to children under the age of five around the world. She was inspired to do this by her father’s illiteracy, as she hopes that no other child will grow up not knowing how to read.

Parton told People Magazine last year that while she’s “kind of addicted to the feeling of giving. Knowing that I’m doing something good for someone else,” she also doesn’t like getting attention for her charitable efforts.

‘I Am Not All That’

“I have to honestly tell you, I was a little bit skeptical of being put on the cover as one of the ‘People of the Year,’ because that’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “But, yeah, it’s like, I am not all that. I’m glad that I stand for enough stuff to where I’m not the worst person in the world.”

Unlike many celebrities, Parton has clearly not let fame go to her head, and she’s determined to use her platform to help as many people as she possibly can. If only we had more stars like her in the entertainment world!

James Conrad

James Conrad’s passion for politics is only overshadowed by his longstanding interest in Hollywood. His unique perspective as a gay conservative fuels him to challenge celebrity views and those who think they have a right to tell anyone how to think or vote. James proudly wields his minority point of view to combat identity politics and cut through his typecast. Fun fact: James’ guilty pleasure is the British royal family.