Country music superstar Dolly Parton announced she was donating $1 million of her own money to help Hurricane Helene victims.
Parton announced the donation as part of a larger relief fund she's spearheading at a Walmart in Newport, Tennessee on Thursday, per the Knoxville News Sentinel. In addition to Parton's donation, the fund includes an addition $1 million from her Dollywood Parks & Resorts and other businesses and a $4 million donation from Walmart. The aid will support key cleanup and rebuilding programs through the Mountain Ways Foundation.
“I just want you to know that I am totally with you because I am part of you. I love you,” Parton said. “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.”
“I can’t stand to see anyone hurting, so I wanted to do what I could to help after these terrible floods," she added. "I hope we can all be a little light in the world for our friends, our neighbors — even strangers — during this dark time they are experiencing.”
The utter devastation of Helene, which swept across five states and killed at least 225 people, has left hundreds of thousands without power and thousands more without shelter.
“Helene, Helene, Helene, you came in here and broke us all apart,” Parton reportedly sang, to the tune of her classic “Jolene.” “Helene, Helene, Helene, we're all here to mend these broken hearts.”
Parton had already coordinated the distribution of a semi-truck full of water in Tennessee prior to announcing her cash donation.
“They're active and already making a difference in Tennessee. So, for me, it made complete sense. No time to wait six months to develop a new nonprofit,” Dollywood President Eugene Naughton told the News Sentinel. “They're feeding about 2,000 people a day, and I felt like we could scale them up and really go out under their nonprofit umbrella and get to work.”
