Dolly Parton Telethon Raises Nearly $9 Million and Counting for Fire Victims
As if we needed another reason to love Dolly Parton, the Queen of the Smoky Mountains made good on her promise to help her friends and neighbors significantly affected by the recent wildfires in eastern Tennessee that ravaged Gatlinburg and surrounding areas, and came within yards of Parton’s Dollywood resort. Tuesday (12-14) evening Dolly Parton and a cavalcade of participating artists raised nearly $9 million so far through her Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund telethon.
Along with large donations from Chris Stapleton, Dierks Bentley, Taylor Swift, Chris Young, Paul Simon, Kenny Chesney, the CMA, ACM, CMT, and other individuals and organizations, nearly 20 artists contributed their time to the telethon, including Kenny Rogers, Hank Williams Jr., Chris Stapleton, Reba McEntire, Alison Krauss, Michael W. Smith, Chris Janson, Big & Rich, Chris Young, Montgomery Gentry, Jamey Johnson, Cyndi Lauper, Don McLean, Amy Grant, Alabama, Aaron Lewis and Rhonda Vincent.
And they’re not done counting the money yet. Since many donations were mailed in, more money is expected to be accumulated in the coming days. Over 1300 families were displaced by the wildfires which affected Sevier County, Tennessee due to what authorities believe to be arson. The Dollywood Foundation’s My People Fund has pledged to provide $1000 each month for six months to every family who lost their primary residence.
“I am overwhelmed by the generosity of the people who have donated from all over the country and to my friends who donated their time, their talent, and money for My People,” Dolly Parton said. “The response has been so overwhelming that we haven’t been able to count all of the donations yet; right now, in total, we have raised about $9 million dollars for the folks who lost everything in Sevier County.”
You can still make tax-deductible donations to the My People Fund at dollywoodfoundation.org. You can also text “DOLLY” to 501501 to make a $10 contribution, or text “DOLLY25” to 501501 to make a $25 donation. Mail donations can be sent to:
My People Fund
c/o Dollywood Foundation
111 Dollywood Lane
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
December 15, 2016 @ 7:55 am
Well done! It was a very engaging and heartwarming telethon, and you could tell that Dolly and others were really moved by the generosity of the public. If they had a telethon like this every year with this sort of line-up, it would be spectacular!
December 15, 2016 @ 12:23 pm
if they had a festival with sort of line-up it’d be even more spectacular.
December 15, 2016 @ 8:32 am
When I think of country music, I think not only of the music itself, but also the generous spirit of the people. Since some in the media (and the CMA) apparently consider Beyonce the top country person now, and Dolly Parton unimportant enough to cut short at the awards, shouldn’t Beyonce do something to help country people in need ?
December 15, 2016 @ 8:40 am
Well played, RobertS. Take the rest of the day off, with pay. Your work here is done!
December 15, 2016 @ 9:20 am
Round of applause
December 15, 2016 @ 9:41 am
Good for Dolly and friends . Telethons are a win/win .Perhaps instead of one more country music awards extravaganza one of the networks could broadcast a very low overhead country music charity telethon ( acoustic performances ? guitar pull ? interesting pairings ? ) annually . The artists get the same exposure either way , fans would still get their country music fix, networks would still get their sponsors , and certainly caring folks from all sides would donate their time with the same enthusiasm . And charities would get a huge injection of $$$ . Too Polyanna ?
December 15, 2016 @ 9:55 am
With the success of this telethon and the ability to now easily broadcast online, we might be seeing a lot more of these.
December 15, 2016 @ 6:01 pm
Very proud of the country folks that gave of their time for Dolly. These are real people. Who in the H— is this Beyonce. Never heard of except the AMC show. Bet the Opery won’t ask him to be a member.
Proudd Dolly keep up the great work. Love you and your people.
December 21, 2016 @ 3:35 pm
Wow, what a set of performers. I could give or take a few names, as we all could, but on the whole this is a highly respectable pool of talent. Sad I missed the telethon. Is there any way to watch it at this point?
January 6, 2017 @ 6:48 pm
I thought Alabama was tremendous. Great performance of a great song.
October 20, 2018 @ 11:53 am
Well i just read that assine acticle where that woman who from the south now in New York, and I just wanted to say like WTF, ( I don’t usually use bad words or initials) but i thought to my self yep I I’m from Alabama city born city raised, but i have ALWAYS love Dolly and her music but most of all i have loved her spirt, her openendef honesty her contributions to peole from all walks of life. If this woman wants to question her heritage, her up bringing her value cause she now lives in New York thats fine, but do NOT question my admiration or the goodness of this lovely lady…Dolly Parton, cause we way down here in the South, country, city, black, white male female sexual orination, whatever we love her and think the world of her!