There’s so much to love about Dolly Parton. From her can’t-help-but-sing-along musical hits and head-turning style to her delicious food collabs (hello, Duncan Hines and Jeni’s Ice Cream!) and perpetually-positive attitude, Dolly is an icon for more than her Grammy award-winning musical career. Most notably, in fact, is how she puts her money and fame to the very best philanthropic use.
One of Dolly’s most notable give-back programs is her Imagination Library, which provides children with one free book per month from birth to age five — and any child is eligible. But that’s just one of many examples of how Dolly’s infused her wealth back into her community. In 2020, she donated $1 million to help fund the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Of course, if that’s not enough to make you praise Dolly for the angel-on-earth that she is, her latest philanthropic effort surely will.
On Thursday, February 10, Dolly revealed that her amusement park, Dollywood Parks and Resorts, will pay 100% of tuition costs, fees, and books for any employee who wants to pursue a higher education. This new initiative is being dubbed the Grow U Program, and is being provided by Herschend Enterprises, Dollywood’s parent company, with Dolly’s financial backing.
While any employee — full-time, part-time, or seasonal — is eligible for the program, the amount of funding they receive depends on the major they choose. Currently, a variety of high-demand fields, like marketing and technology, are 100% funded through 30 learning partners. That said, if employees choose a focus on another subject (like hospitality or art design — which are just two of the 150 other fields covered), they can receive partial scholarships up to $5,250/year.
The reason for such grand financial support? Dolly and her larger company want their workers to feel appreciated.
“When our hosts feel appreciated and are given opportunities like this, they feel cared for and they can pass that feeling on to their guests,” Wes Ramey, a spokesman for Dollywood Co, told the Washington Post. “...[Dolly’s] very supportive of the employees learning and continuing to grow themselves.”
Rebecca Norris is a full-time freelance writer living in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Over the past 10+ years, she’s heavily covered a range of lifestyle topics, including travel, home, beauty, style, wellness, and celebrity news. She is a graduate of George Mason University, where she earned a B.A. in Media: Production, Consumption, and Critique, along with a minor in Electronic Journalism. When she's not writing, she can be found strolling with her Jack-Chi, Cash, sipping iced matcha lattes, indulging in delicious cuisine, perusing farmer’s markets and antique sales, collecting colored glass, getting lost within the pages of a book, and exploring new bucket-list cities.
