CNJ+ February 2023

scholarship at a stop on Parton’s Pure & Simple Tour. 2017- To celebrate the release of her children’s album, "I Believe in You," Parton made a $1 million donation to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hos pital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Parton’s gift was made in honor of her beloved niece, who was treated for leukemia at the hospital. 2018- Shortly after donating $1 million to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Parton helped open the Hannah Dennison Butterfly Garden at the hospital, dedicated to her niece. Dennison was treated for leukemia at the hospital beginning in 1990 and ultimately made a full recovery. 2020- As the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the United States, Dolly Parton donated $1 million to help fund vaccine research at Vanderbilt Uni versity Medical Center. In 2022, the Care More initiative entitles employees of Dolly Parton's Dolly wood Parks and Resorts to a day off that they can use to volunteer at a non profit of their choice. “I think it’s important for everyone to do their share to help their fellow man,” Dolly said in a 2022 speech. “This world is so crazy. I don’t think we even know what we’re doing to each other and to this world.” 2022- Billionaire Jeff Bezos donated $100 million to Parton's Dollywood Foundation inNovember 2022. Parton was the recipient of Bezos's third-an nual Courage and Civility Award, and can use the funds to donate to char ities of her choice or continue her own charitable work. Other than her financial contributions to ease people’s sufferings from the COVID-19 pandemic, Dolly Parton has also released a 10-week series of bedtime stories on YouTube available for free streaming. She believes that the small gesture of reading bedtime stories for children is a welcome re prieve (for both parents and children) from all that is happening in the world. Parton also created the Mountain Tough. This is an organization that offers resources for everyone affected by the pandemic. The center of the organization is in Sevier County where the singer was born and raised. The Mountain Tough helps not only those who lost jobs but also those who need food resources, counseling, and assistance. At 77 years old, Dolly shows no signs of slowing down. She still continues to give generously to various charities and organizations, and is 100 percent involved in her own Foundation. She is truly a gifted artist who doesn’t look for the glitz and glory and media attention. She gives from her heart without the fanfare, where it’s needed the most!!!!! ATTENTION REALTORS: It makes sense to advertise here! • CNJ+ is the Premier News Source in your target area. • We are not a zoned publication- Means more homes for less! • Real Estate competition is fierce, & you need to STAND OUT. • Let our readers Get To Know and Trust You. • Show our readers that you will market their homes. • Advertising here includes many other marketing services ev ery month such as; social media, email marketing, online ads. W E D I R E C T O U R R E A D E R S T O Y O U R O N L I N E L I S T I N G S !

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In 1991, she added Eagle Mountain Sanctuary to Dollywood. In addition to the rides, shows, and other attractions at Dollywood. Managed by the American Eagle Foundation, the 30,000-square-foot aviary houses what the organization describes as the country’s largest collection of “non-releas able” bald eagles. The eagles are on view at Dollywood several months out of the year and participate in the Wings of America Birds of Prey show for visitors to enjoy. In 2000 she established a yearly $15,000 scholarship. Every year, five high school seniors in Sevier County, Tennessee, are awarded the Dolly Parton Scholarship, which provides $15,000 for each recipient to pursue a college education. The scholarship is, according to the Dollywood Foundation, giv en to students who “have a dream they wish to pursue and who can suc cessfully communicate their plan and commitment to realize their dreams.” In 2002 her foundation introduced the Chasing Rainbows award. In con junction with the National Network of State Teachers of the Year, the Dolly wood Foundation presents the Chasing Rainbows Award to a “teacher who has overcome obstacles in his/her life and is making a difference in the lives of children.” As a prize, the winner gets to spend a week at Dollywood in Tennessee as Parton’s honored guest. At a benefit concert in May 2007, Parton raised money for the LeConte Medical Center, a new hospital and cancer center in Sevier County, Tennes see. In addition to the $500,000 raised at the concert, both Dollywood and Parton’s Dixie Stampede dinner theater each pledged $250,000 to the proj ect, bringing the total amount of funds raised to $1 million. The hospital opened in 2010 and named its women’s health ward after Parton. 2016- Dolly established the MY People Fund through her Dollywood Foundation, Parton pledged that she would donate $1,000 per month for six months to families who lost their homes in the aftermath of wildfires that ripped through the Great Smoky Mountains. In addition to donating her own money to the My People Fund, Parton also hosted two star-stud ded telethons to raise funds for fire victims, ultimately raising and donating millions of dollars. Along with the much-needed cash grants provided to families impacted by the Great Smoky Mountains wildfires, the Dollywood Foundation also pro vided college scholarships to graduating high school seniors in the region who had lost their homes in the fires. That year, she also awarded a $30,000 Special Merit Scholarship to a 2-year old girl named Evey Johns in recognition of the Imagination Library’s mile stone of shipping out one million books per month. Johns, who had en rolled in the Imagination Library, was announced as the recipient of the

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