Appalachia native Dolly Parton said Friday she will donate $1 million for Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
Parton said the $1 million will go to the Mountain Ways Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing immediate assistance to Hurricane Helene flood victims.
“These are special people here; they’re my people,” Parton said during an event announcing the donation at a Walmart in Newport, Tennessee. “I feel like all people are my people, but everyone here grew up in the mountains just like I did, so of course I have a close connection to them. I can’t stand to see anyone hurting, so I wanted to do what I could to help after these terrible floods.”
The country music icon was born in Locust Ridge, Tennessee to a poor family living deep in rural Appalachia — and Parton has often written about her childhood and the region in her songs, including hits such as “Smoky Mountain Memories” and “My Tennessee Mountain Home.”
She was joined by Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner, who said the company, including Sam’s Club and the Walmart Foundation, would donate a total of $10 million to hurricane relief efforts across the affected states. Parton’s associated businesses, including Dollywood Parks & Resorts and The Dollywood Foundation, also announced they would match Parton’s donation with another $1 million to the Mountain Ways Foundation.
At least 225 people have been confirmed dead after Helene swept through the Southeast, and officials say they expect the death toll to rise as recovery efforts continue. Satellite images showed large areas of North Carolina devastated by the storm. President Biden said Friday the work to rebuild the damage will cost “billions of dollars.”
Parton said she hopes her donations will inspire others to donate and assist in the massive recovery efforts.
“I hope we can all be a little bit of light in the world for our friends, our neighbors — even strangers — during this dark time they are experiencing.”