By Gavin Boyle
Dolly Parton loves helping others, and she’s putting her support into the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital to continue nearly 90 years of high-quality medical services as it becomes Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital.
“Well, hey there. It’s Dolly. Now, I’ve always believed that every child deserves a fair chance to grow up healthy, hopeful and surrounded with love. That belief is what brought me together with the incredible folks at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. For nearly 90 years, their teams have provided compassionate and talented care. They see children not just as patients but as precious lives, each with a story and a future. I am so excited to share [that] the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital is becoming…guess what! The Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital,” Parton shared in an exciting announcement.
“Together, we’re committed to strengthening our relationship where world class care and a caring heart go hand in hand for children across East Tennessee and beyond,” the country music legend continued. “And I hope you’ll join me in supporting this work. I can’t do it all myself; I’m going to need you. So when we come together for our children, there’s no limit to what we can do.”
Related: How Dolly Parton’s Legacy Continues to Improve the Community
Parton has long worked to give back to and support her rural Tennessee community. This was the reason she chose the Smoky Mountains as the location for Dollywood.
“The Smokies — and the wonderful people who work here — are what make Dollywood so different than many of the other theme parks around the world,” Parton told PEOPLE in January 2024. “We’re right on the font porch of the most-visited national park in the country, so we take what God gave us and use it to dream up the big dreams we want our guests to experience while they are here riding rides and making memories.”
Parton’s efforts to support underprivileged communities, however, do not stop in Tennessee. She has run the Imagination Library since 1995, providing over 300 million books to children across the world in that time and helping these kids receive a better education and reap the benefits of literacy.
“When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true. I know there are children in your community with their own dreams. They dream of becoming a doctor or an inventor or a minister. Who knows, maybe there is a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer,” Parton said. “The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”
It is amazing to see how Parton uses her platform for good with the resources God’s given her.
Read Next: How Dolly Parton Invited God into Her Big Dreams
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