08/26/2026
8 billion people in the world, and there was only 1 Dolly Parton.
When you’re a kid, every so often you notice a grown-up out there making a difference in a way that catches your eye and sticks with you. You usually learn about philanthropy, charity, and giving back from family and friends. But every now and then it’s someone famous doing far more than the thing they’re famous for. Dolly Parton was one of those people.
If the Imagination Library had been the only thing she ever did, she’d still be a celebrated philanthropist. More than 330 million free books mailed to kids, no matter what a family could afford. You should be reading that and then saying “wow” out loud. But she also funded scholarships, gave millions to disaster relief and medical research, and built a sanctuary at Dollywood for bald eagles that couldn’t survive back in the wild.
That is SO MUCH work, and none of it was her day job.
What gets us most is how she did it: she didn’t wait for kids to come find her. She put the book in their mailbox. That’s the whole idea behind what we try to do too.
Thank you for being an inspiration and a role model for people and organizations like ours. The world is genuinely less bright and less fun without you and that big beautiful heart.
Dolly Parton FTW 🙌
