Dolly Parton’s donation strategy: ‘I just give from my heart’
By MARCIA BISHOP
March 13, 2016 at 11:45 am
Dolly Parton has had an amazing impact on the lives of fans and fans everywhere.
And now it’s time for Parton to return the favor.
The country music superstar donated US $1 million to the United Negro College Fund — to be used for scholarships or for other purposes. According to the organization’s website, it was the largest single donation in recent memory and will help more than 8,500 outstanding students who were either denied a college education or who are currently enrolled in college.
Parton, who has been donating to the fund for decades, will make it official when the album she’s releasing Thursday, “Greatest Hits,” takes the top spot on the all-time charts. The album is her 18th, but that’s almost certainly not going to stop her from continuing to donate from the heart.
Parton made her first donation in 1968 to pay for the construction of a gym for the YMCA in her native Montgomery, Ala. “That one made a huge difference in the lives of so many students at Central High,” she told the Montgomery Advertiser in 2011. “That one made me believe that it was possible for me to have a positive impact on the world.”
Parton made dozens of other donations for the nonprofit over the years.
“She’s a wonderful person and a wonderful woman and always has been. She’s always been generous,” said Parton’s longtime manager, Nancy Priester. “As a person who has experienced a lot of losses, I know how important she is to her family.”
Dolly has always sought a positive impact on the world, said Priester, who was at the Montgomery Advertiser with Parton in the late 1970s when she made the first of her many donations.
“You know she’s the single greatest philanthropizer in the world,” Priester said. “She has always found a way to help others
