Since the mid-1980s, Parton has supported many charitable efforts, particularly in the area of literacy, primarily through her Dollywood Foundation.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Her literacy program, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a part of the Dollywood Foundation, mails one book per month to each enrolled child from the time of their birth until they enter kindergarten. Currently over 1600 local communities provide the Imagination Library to almost 700,000 children each and every month across the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia.The program distributes more than 8.3 million free books to children annually.
In 2006, Parton published a cookbook, Dolly's Dixie Fixin's: Love, Laughter and Lots of Good Food.
The Dollywood Foundation, funded from Parton's net profits, which has been noted for bringing jobs and tax revenues to a previously depressed region. Parton has also worked to raise money on behalf of several other causes, including the American Red Cross and a number of HIV/AIDS-related charities.
In December 2006, Parton pledged $500,000 toward a proposed $90-million hospital and cancer center to be constructed in Sevierville in the name of Dr. Robert F. Thomas, the physician who delivered her. She announced a benefit concert to raise additional funds for the project. The concert played to about 8,000 people. That same year, she andEmmylou Harris allowed their music to be used in a PETA ad campaign that encouraged pet owners to keep their dogs indoors rather than chained outside. In May 2009, Parton gave the commencement address at the University of Tennessee. Her speech was about her life lessons, and she encouraged the graduates to never stop dreaming.
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