Country music legend Dolly Parton announced that she was donating $1 million to go toward helping people who have been affected by Hurricane Helene.
During a press conference on Friday, Parton stated that the $1 million she was donating would come from her “own bank account,” and added that her “Dollywood companies” such as, the Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show, Dolly Parton’s Stampede, and the Dollywood Foundation, another $1 million would be donated to Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
Parton’s press conference in the parking lot of a Walmart in Newport, Tennessee included a remix performance of her song, “Jolene,” according to the Rolling Stone magazine.
“Remember when we had the fires? Everybody pitched in, tried to do everything that they could, and so I really think that this is a time for me to step up again, for all of us to step up and do what we can. Of course, today I wanted to announce that from myself personally, just from my own bank account, I’m donating a million dollars today.”
“But, there’s a lot to be done and we’re trying to find other ways to even raise more funds,” Parton added. “But, also with my Dollywood companies and all the people I’m involved with, with Dollywood and Eugene and all the partners that we have with our Stampede and of course, the Pirates Voyage, and of course the Dollywood Foundation, and we’ve added another million dollars to that one million, so we’re starting out with a good little hunk.”
During the press conference, Parton noted how areas such as eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, southwestern Virginia, Georgia, and Florida were left affected by the hurricane.
“Who knew in our little part of the country here — where I was born and raised right down the road — that we would have this kind of devastation,” Parton said, according to the outlet. “I look around and I think, these are my mountains. These are my valleys. These are my rivers, lowing like a stream. These are my people.”
In the aftermath of the hurricane, more than 200 people have been reported dead, while thousands of people still remain missing, according to NBC News.
Sean Aardema, the police chief for Asheville, a city in western North Carolina that experienced devastating flooding as a result of the hurricane, noted that the city was working on solving “75 missing persons cases,” according to the outlet.