OUR MISSION
The mission of The Dollywood Foundation is to share the life and legacy of Dolly Parton as an inspiration to all children to
Dream More, Learn More, Care More, Be More™.
OUR FOUNDATION
The Dollywood Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1988 by Dolly Parton to inspire the children in her home county to achieve educational success. Initial efforts focused on decreasing the dropout rate in the county's high school.
In the early 1990's, Dolly promised every 7th grade and 8th grade student $500 if they successfully graduated from high school. This effort, called the Buddy Program, reduced the dropout rate for these two classes from 35% to 6%. More importantly, the program catalyzed the community to provide additional resources to sustain this improvement in the dropout rate.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is the flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation.
In 1995, Dolly created her Imagination Library in Sevier County, Tennessee. This monthly book gifting program for children under the age of five was originally designed to inspire a love of reading and learning for all preschool children in the county. What was founded as a local program became such a success that in 2000 a national replication effort was underway, and by 2003 Dolly Parton's Imagination Library had mailed one million books. It would prove to be the first of many millions of books sent to children around the world.
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The Dollywood Foundation also offers five scholarships to high school seniors in Sevier County. TN to help further their education at any accredited university. The Dolly Parton Scholarship is a $15,000 scholarship awarded annually at each high school. The scholarships are for students who have a dream they wish to pursue and who can successfully communicate their plan and commitment to realize their dreams.
A LEGACY OF GIVING BACK
Founded by Dolly Parton in 1988, The Dollywood Foundation began with a simple mission: help the children of her hometown dream bigger through the power of education. What started in Sevier County, Tennessee, has grown into a global nonprofit dedicated to inspiring children and families to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.
Over the decades, The Dollywood Foundation has expanded its impact through initiatives ranging from scholarships and efforts to boost graduation rates to large-scale community aid efforts and its international flagship program, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library—one of the world’s largest book gifting programs. Together, these initiatives reflect the Foundation’s enduring commitment to creating opportunities that change lives for generations.