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On Dec 3, 2020, at 7:54 PM, The Dollywood Foundation <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: The Dollywood Foundation
Subject: RSVP Now! Facebook Premiere Of New Imagination Library Film
Dear Friends,
I’m excited to send you this very special video invitation to join me for the worldwide premiere of our film, The Library That Dolly Built.
I look forward to seeing you on December 9 at 7PM Eastern - it’s going to be fun!
Love,
WORLDWIDE PREMIERE
DECEMBER 9 @ 7PM EASTERN
Watch Exclusively on Facebook
RSVP NOW
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Dolly Parton is known around the world for her musical and acting talents, but the legendary performer recently made headlines for her contribution to science when she helped fund Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine.
Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University for research toward a cure for the coronavirus. Her donation helped fund the university's research that contributed to the development of Moderna's vaccine, which has a reported efficacy of 94.5%She did not realize she'd helped the Moderna effort until she saw a preliminary report that listed her name among the other vaccine sponsors.
This is not the first time Parton has worked "9 to 5" on philanthropic endeavors.
She established the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to inspire children in her home county, Sevier, Tennessee, to achieve educational success.She helped reduce dropout rates from 35% to 6% for 7th and 8th graders in the late 1990s by promising to give each student $500 if they finished high school.See https://www.friendstnlibraries.org/wp-content/uploads/FOTLNewsletterFAll2020-WEB.pdf, p.4, about how Dolly Parton Has Touched Lives Of Pigeon Forge Library Staff.
Parton launched the Imagination Library in 1995 to inspire preschool children to read more by mailing them free books from birth until they start school. In March 2018, Imagination Library mailed its 100 millionth book.
She established a My People Fund in 2016, pledging to donate $1,000 per month to families who lost their homes to the wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains. Parton also hosted telethons to raise funds for fire victims.
Parton previously donated to Vanderbilt University in 2018, when she gave $1 million to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital in honor of her niece Hannah Dennison, who was successfully treated for leukemia there when she was 4 years old.
Parton, the fourth of 12 children, was born in a one-room cabin in Tennessee. She described her family growing up as "dirt poor" in a 2002 CNN interview, where she said her experience inspired her philanthropic efforts.
"It's really a wonderful thing because many of my people weren't able to read and write and have the opportunity to get an education," she said, speaking about her Imagination Library. "When you get in a position to be able to help, you should do whatever you can.”
Former President Barack Obama regrets overlooking this generosity and said not giving Parton the Presidential Medal of Freedom was "a screwup.”"That's a mistake. I'm shocked," Obama said during an interview with CBS’s The Late Show when asked why Parton had not received the award. "She deserves one. I'll call Biden”