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Dolly Parton Pledges $1,000 Per Month To Each Family Affected By The Tennessee Fires

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 03:13 PST, Dec 7, 2016

Dolly Parton has pledged $1,000 a month for families hit by the Tennessee wildfires, according to CNN. The 70-year-old country music star has set up a fund for families in her community in eastern Tennessee who lost their homes due to the wildfires.

Dolly Parton has set up a fund to give each family whose homes were reduced to ashes $1,000 a month for six months. The “Jolene” singer explained her generous move by saying she wants to help families affected by the wildfires get “back on their feet.”

Dolly Parton released a video message in which the native of Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains says she has “always believed charity begins at home,” adding that her home is “someplace special.”

“We want to provide a hand up to those families who have lost everything in the fires. I know it has been a trying time for my people and this assistance will help get them back on their feet.”

Dolly Parton has her theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, but it wasn’t affected by the wildfires raging across the state last week. On Thursday, a local emergency management agency reported 10 deaths as a result of the wildfires.

At least 700 structures have been destroyed by the fires in Tennessee, many of them in Gatlinburg and other parts of the county. Dolly Parton’s Dollywood was lucky to survive the fires as several homes in Pigeon Forge were reduced to charred ruins.

Dolly Parton is also setting up a campaign for donations to support her $1,000 assistance fund. The country singer was raised in Locust Ridge in Pigeon Forge, which is why she feels the need to help the families living in her native town.

Dolly Parton, who has won the most awards as a female country singer, started her singing career in Tennessee. And according to her website, her remarkable music career began with Parton singing “barefoot on the front porch of her Tennessee Mountain Home.”

Dolly Parton is no stranger to philanthropist efforts. More than two decades ago, the “Jolene” singer started the Imagination Library in honor of her father. The charity’s mission is to send free books to preschool-aged children. The charity has already sent out nearly 85 million books in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia.

Dolly Parton distributes not only free books around the world but also her magnificent voice. Last week, the country singer was joined by her goddaughter Miley Cyrus for a musical rendition of Parton’s classic “Jolene,” according to Rolling Stone.

The family affair took place on season 11 of NBC’s The Voice. Dolly Parton and the “Wrecking Ball” singer were joined by Pentatonix to build thrilling sub-melodies in the 1974 classic hit. Interestingly, Pentatonix previously sang the song in tribute to Parton at the CMA Awards in November.

Cyrus, for her part, also has lots of experience with singing Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” as she has previously performed it solo on The Voice. So when the group offered an a cappella version of the classic song on The Voice last week, it sounded like the best collaboration ever.

Earlier that same night, Dolly Parton joined singer Jennifer Nettles and the Top 10 contestants of The Voice to perform “Circle of Love,” a hit song from Nettles’ new album called To Celebrate Christmas.

But that’s not the only TV event that made Dolly Parton’s fans talk about the country singer last week. NBC’s television movie Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love topped Wednesday night ratings, with an average 11.4 million viewers tuning in.

[Featured Image by Rick Diamond/Getty Images]

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