The Dollywood Foundation, established by Dolly Parton to inspire children to achieve educational success, has said that it will continue with its mission following the singer’s passing.
“Dolly’s legacy was never meant to be something we simply preserve or look back upon,” commented Jeff Conyers, president of The Dollywood Foundation.
“She built things that could keep doing good in the world. Our responsibility now is to care for what she entrusted to us, help it grow thoughtfully and make certain the love at the heart of her work continues reaching children, families and communities long into the future.”
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
A central focus of The Dollywood Foundation is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, launched in 1995 in East Tennessee, which was inspired by her father’s inability to read and write. Initially launched to provide young people with books in her home county, the initiative has since expanded to reach millions of children and families, with books delivered directly to children’s homes at no cost to their families.
Conyers said that the foundation has ‘prepared carefully for the future’, and remains positioned to continue and develop Parton’s work. The organisation’s responsibility, he added, is to care for the philanthropic initiatives Parton had pioneered, allow them to grow, and maintain the principles behind them.
‘Give something back’
“Dolly often said that she had been blessed far beyond anything she ever dreamed possible, and she believed deeply that those blessings came with a responsibility to give something back,” he commented. “That belief is woven into everything we do at The Dollywood Foundation. While we are heartbroken by her loss, the mission she gave us is as clear today as it has ever been, and we will carry it forward for generations to come.”
In a statement, the foundation added that ‘one of the greatest ways to honour Dolly is not simply to remember what she accomplished, but to continue the work she loved – carrying it forward with the same generosity, humility, joy and love with which she began it’. Read more here.
