Dolly Parton beamed as she recently accepted the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy at Gotham Hall.
Grammy-winning country superstar Dolly Parton was among four 2022 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy honorees recently in New York City. The 76-year-old beamed as she accepted the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy at Gotham Hall saying she was “proud and honored to be a part of anything that is going to make the world a better place,” according to ABC News. Other honorees included Dallas entrepreneur Lyda Hill, Kenyan industrialist Manu Chandaria, and Lynn and Stacy Schusterman, from the Oklahoma investment family.
“I never quite understood why we have to let religion and politics and things like that stand in the way of just being good human beings.”
— David Dean Bottrell (@DavidDBottrell) October 18, 2022
-- Dolly Parton, 2022 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy Award Recipient @DollyParton pic.twitter.com/wmrCF8pMv4
Parton was awarded the honor for her donation to coronavirus vaccine research in 2020 that helped develop the Moderna vaccine as well as her efforts to offer free books to children across the world through her initiative, the Imagination Library. As we previously reported, millions of children in California will be able to get free books, thanks to Dolly Parton. The bill, SB 1183, which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom will help fund Parton’s Imagination Library program. The country legend's Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free books to children from birth until they begin school in participating areas. Now, thanks to the law, in California free books will be sent directly to the child’s home at no cost to their family starting in June 2023.
Good News Alert:
— Goodable (@Goodable) October 9, 2022
Dolly Parton is partnering with state of California to provide all children in the state under the age of five with a free book every month.
The bill, partnering with Dolly's Imagination Library, received bipartisan support and will go into effect next year. pic.twitter.com/kx1WEHh6DL
Parton was inspired to launch the Imagination Library to help her hometown of Sevier County after her father Robert's inability to read and write. "That always made me feel bad about my dad, so I started it based on that, just for our county," Parton told PEOPLE. "Governor Phil Bredesen thought it was a great idea, so they took it statewide. It's just grown in leaps and bounds ever since then, but it came from a place in my heart to try to help children in their young years, their most impressionable years, to learn how to read and write." The Jolene singer's father was able to see the program take off before he died in 2000.
Speaking of her philanthropic efforts, she told PEOPLE, "I always want to do things that I can be proud to talk about, things that I believe in." Parton added, "I cannot be a hypocrite and just say I'm going to donate this money for a tax write-off. I'd really like for it to mean something to me — something I can take pride in."
References:
https://people.com/country/dolly-parton-says-her-charity-work-isnt-for-a-tax-write-off/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Rick Diamond
