Dolly Parton Donates $2 Million Towards Hurricane Helene Relief

Dolly Parton said Friday she will donate $1 million for Hurricane Helene relief efforts. Parton's Dollywood also added an additional $1 million to the relief fund. The $2 million will go to the Mountain Ways Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing immediate assistance to Hurricane Helene flood victims.

"These are special people here; they're my people," Parton said during an event announcing the donation at a Walmart in Newport, Tennessee. "I feel like all people are my people, but everyone here grew up in the mountains just like I did, so of course I have a close connection to them. I can't stand to see anyone hurting, so I wanted to do what I could to help after these terrible floods."

Parton, who grew up in eastern Tennessee, noted that she wanted to give back to the community where she was raised.

"We're all here to mend these broken hearts, and that's what I'm doing here," she said. "So, I really, really wish that we were all together for another reason."

"But we all have seen the devastation," Parton added. "I mean, who knew in our little part of the country here where I was born, raised just right down the road, that we would have this kind of devastation? And I look around, and I think these are my mountains, these are my valleys. These are my rivers flowing like a stream. These are my people, these mountain-colored rainbows. These are my people. And this is my home."

 

 

 

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