A Childless Woman Who Made Children Her Cause
Credit: Tammie Arroyo / AFF-USA.com / MEGA
Dolly Parton never had children of her own, but few entertainers built a more enduring legacy around helping young people. Through the Dollywood Foundation, Parton supported education, literacy and other child-focused initiatives, including a 1991 program that helped reduce a Tennessee high-school's dropout rate from 35% to 6% by offering students a $500 graduation incentive.
Her most famous effort, however, is the Imagination Library, launched in 1995 in honor of her father, who never learned to read. The program grew from a local project into an international literacy initiative, providing children with free, age-appropriate books every month.
Parton once explained her decision not to have children by saying, "God didn't let me have children so everybody's children could be mine." That philosophy became particularly meaningful through her philanthropy, which treated access to books and education as something every child should have.
#parton #program
Credit: Tammie Arroyo / AFF-USA.com / MEGA
Dolly Parton never had children of her own, but few entertainers built a more enduring legacy around helping young people. Through the Dollywood Foundation, Parton supported education, literacy and other child-focused initiatives, including a 1991 program that helped reduce a Tennessee high-school's dropout rate from 35% to 6% by offering students a $500 graduation incentive.
Her most famous effort, however, is the Imagination Library, launched in 1995 in honor of her father, who never learned to read. The program grew from a local project into an international literacy initiative, providing children with free, age-appropriate books every month.
Parton once explained her decision not to have children by saying, "God didn't let me have children so everybody's children could be mine." That philosophy became particularly meaningful through her philanthropy, which treated access to books and education as something every child should have.
#parton #program
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