Dolly Parton donates millions to charity as she grew up poor and couldn't afford to bath daily
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Dolly Parton has scaled the heights in her illustrious career as a musician and businesswoman, amassing global fame and fortune. However, she understands the struggles of poverty and has never forgotten her humble beginnings. As the acclaimed songstress enjoys her success, she also gives back to society, and has donated millions of dollars to those in need.
The country legend, born Dolly Rebecca Parton, was welcomed by her parents Robert Lee Parton Sr and Avie Lee Owens on January 19, 1946, in Sevierville, Tennessee, on Locust Ridge. She was birthed in a one-bedroom cabin and had 11 siblings who lived under one roof. The Partons were a musically-oriented family and found joy through singing despite their arduous circumstances.
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Parton is the fourth among 12 siblings, including Stella Mae, Cassie Nan, twins Freida Estelle and Rachel Ann, Willadeene, David Wilburn, Coy Denver, Bobby Lee, Larry, who died as an infant, and Robert, who died of cancer in 2021. Being one of the older sisters, the future megastar frequently helped her parents care for the younger children.
Parton has fond memories of her childhood, but revealed how growing up in poverty meant living through harrowing conditions. In a 1978 interview with Playboy magazine, she remembered how bathing on a daily basis wasn't a privilege her family enjoyed. The siblings would often make their own soap and would drive to the river from time to time to wash themselves. Parton said there was a creek nearby but they preferred the river because it was like a "big bath" for all of them. During the cold winter, the entire family would have just a pan of water to wash with as much as they could. When asked how many times they would bathe in the winter, Parton told the magazine, "Well, we bathed once a week whether we needed it or not, as the saying goes."
My Tennessee Mountain Home ❤️ pic.twitter.com/dQwNZtFBZt
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) November 9, 2022
But some birds aren't meant to be caged, and Parton's passion for music eventually led to her to become one of the most accomplished country artists of all time. Forbes estimated her net worth at $375 million last year. Her financial success can be attributed to her music publishing ownership rights and her theme park 'Dollywood'. Despite reaching the highest echelons of fame, the singer-songwriter's childhood experiences taught her that sharing her success with others was equally important. Aside from her music, Parton is actively involved in a number of social causes and has notably donated millions to those in need.
The 'Jolene' hitmaker collaborated with a group of musicians in 2016 to raise $13 million for the recovery efforts of survivors of the East Tennessee wildfires, which ravaged Tennessee's Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg cities. The following year, she donated $1 million to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after her niece underwent leukemia treatment there. In 2020, she donated $1 million to vaccine research during the COVID-19 pandemic - and many credited her financial support for the creation of the Moderna vaccine.
Meanwhile, Parton is also known to actively campaign for early childhood literacy. She reportedly sends free books to over one million children every month through her non profit program Imagination Library.
Parton and her father Robert Lee also founded a non-profit organization in 1995 to help children learn to read and write. While it started in eastern Tennessee, the project has since grown and now helps kids in need in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, per AmoMama.