Fred Rogers is the only one in recent memory who could share a spotlight with Dolly Parton.

Wow a broken system. Third world country harder America.

Americans should put up statues of her in their parks instead of old dead racists.

There is absolutely some orphan crushing going on here, but Dolly was doing the most morally correct thing she could in the moment.

Americans going anti science and then having to pay the bill when they get sick is kinda funny though.

No hate for Dolly but it is really fucked up too that people get so emotional when a single rich person isn't a selfish psychopath.

I think most normal people who stumble onto an infinite money glitch would probably spend a lot of it making a better world but the problem is that most of those with that much money clawed, backstabbed, and stole it all away from those around them

Gods dammit, now I'm crying again.

We do. https://share.google/P4oPpQeX7iA6c2VYG

Huh. Her only charity that I was aware of was the kids books, which, while super cool, amounts to crumbs from someone with that much wealth. I had her filed with other 'philanthropists' whose contributions add up to a small fraction of what they should be paying anyway via taxes, but our laws are shit, so they don't.

Doing charity and not making a scene about it though, huge respect! I wonder what else she was involved in.

I'm thinking my initial reaction was way too crass - apologies for acting shitty.

Yeah, it was hilarious when a friend's immunocompromised 6 year old died because stupid old fucks don't believe in science.

I wish this were true, but it's not.

She's done tons of better things for medical stuff, but this sounds more like a hyperbolic grand sweeping oversimplification of what she has actually done with donations and efforts.

Doing dirty her good deeds with angelic sounding lies... She was more than we deserved already.

(Not bitching at op! I just detest lies made up for drama)

A year or two ago someone was trying to figure out how some low-income schools were able to get new uniforms for their bands every year. Turned out Dolly had been quietly donating new uniforms to them for decades.

More broadly, she donated massive amounts of money to schools, starting with her home county. When she was in school, her high school had about one in three students drop out. That number dropped to one in twenty. The Dollywood theme park literally just exists to create jobs in Dolly's community because the unemployment rate was pretty high. Employees are quite well paid before factoring in the total coverage of their healthcare, their family's healthcare, and their and their family's college education. The profits then go to the Dollywood Foundation, which operates things like the Imagination Library.

Maybe as far as their outward generosity, but Bob Ross and Levar Burton and Steve Irwin were inspirational in other ways.

Let’s add Steve from Blues clues and Ms. Rachel as upcoming honorees on the mount Rushmore of people who deserve to be in Mount Rushmore but are good enough people they’d hate being part of Mount Rushmore

There are no good billionaires.

Dolly Parton was not a billionaire.

How rich do you think she was? She wasn't a billionaire. The millions she put into that charity were not as much of a crumb to her as Taylor Swift's $2 million donation to it.

650 million. Not billionaire, but still -usually- guillotine territory. The more I'm reading about Dolly, the more I'm seeing that she did infact make herself a net positive to humanity, hence my apology. If you had the misfortune of seeing my posts when the news of her death was breaking, I kinda just shrugged it off as another rich hoarder biting the dust, but I was very much in the wrong.

Different thread, but the Lemmy community is still small enough that common posters become familiar, so if you're reading this thread odds are good you read the other one, too.

Anyway, what I posted was shitty, and I wanted to own up to that - you all deserve better.

Not specifying them just rich people are not a good thing for anyone.

Source? Just curious how you know but tumblr person doesn’t

I suspected it was fake just because of the writing style. It reads like easy internet fantasy fiction.

I was able to find a Snopes article, however, that helps settle the matter.

https://www.snopes.com/collections/celebrity-ai-slop-collection/#%3A%7E%3Atext=The+proliferation+of%2Cgenerosity+of+stars

You didn't say anything shitty, you just didn't know the full picture.

Everything about Dolly Parton can be summed up in how she chose to spread her wealth instead of getting richer. If she parked her wealth into investments like most rich people or celebrities, she'd have been a multi-billionaire a decade ago. She was still very wealthy thanks to an insane amount of musical and movie success but she did coordinate that wealth into good more than most. For example, the reason she made Dollywood was to give her extremely impoverished home county a booming industry and revenue. The park didn't even have anything specifically Dolly Parton themed until a couple of years ago too, most of its life was dedicated to the characters from the various children's books she distributed through the Imagination Library so kids could recognize characters when they visited her park.

She was the rare example of someone who got a massive amount of wealth through her own efforts and then used it to help others as much as possible. Her charities weren't tax shelters, she really did contribute a lot to society on her own (very considerable) dime. When people say they wished rich people would help society more with their wealth, Dolly's who they're thinking of.

Well, okay but it wasn’t about an animal sanctuary.

The article provides the context that people will sometimes make things up about celebrities when they're in the news, then gives an example of when it has happened before.

It's less feasible to prove a negative, "prove that she didn't do x". I can't provide an article about this specific claim because it never happened outside of this block of text. Aside from that, why wouldn't the hospital still bill insurance, then Dolly cover the rest. Thats just bad finance.

As another noted, the tone and writing is super abstracted... "a hospital" ...

I can't 100% DISPROVE this based on the fact there's no other documentation / mention of this act... anywhere. It's just all reblogs/posts of this exact text.

With all the other stuff she's done, how has NOT ONE SINGLE PARENT posted / talked about this?

My own daughter spent her first week of life in a local NICU here. That was 20+ years ago. I still remember the names of the 4 nurses that primarily dealt with her during that time.

If someone, ANYONE, had come forward to pay the 10's of thousands in costs I had to pay for this, I would STILL be shouting about it to this very day.

Again, I don't bring this up to detract from Dolly.... quite the opposite!!! She was AMAZING! But at the same time fabrications about her actions muddy and dilute the actual acts by blurring it.

Love Dolly, but people pushing for validity on the internet by making up stories to get likes is not the right way to honor her accomplishments and goodness.

If you still doubt, or want proof, then I ask you to provide any evidence this DID happen. I will happily cheer on evidence that she performed this kind of act.

No, that’s fair enough, I too have a grain of salt but i’m erring on the believe side. Neither of us knows. An anonymous post says X, that’s that.

https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/dolly-parton-s-health-care-legacy-two-decades-of-giving

East Tennessee Children's Hospital announced Feb. 26 that it would be renamed Dolly Parton Children's Hospital.

"I've always believed that every child deserves a fair chance to grow up healthy, hopeful and surrounded with love," Parton said in the video announcement.

The Knoxville hospital has operated since 1937 and describes itself as a freestanding, independent, not-for-profit pediatric health system with 152 beds and close to 40 additional locations across East Tennessee, including primary care, specialty clinics, urgent care and rehabilitation.

Tennessee certifies it as one of four Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Centers in the state, and it is the only hospital in eastern Tennessee dedicated exclusively to the care of children.

About 60% of its patients rely on Medicaid, and philanthropy plays an important role in sustaining the organization, Chief Healthcare Executive reported in March. President and CEO Matt Schaefer called Parton's contribution a "generational and transformational commitment."

Schaefer said the money is meant to fund a pediatric residency training program the hospital hopes to launch this year, telehealth aimed at rural communities outside Knoxville, level one children's surgical verification through the American College of Surgeons, level four NICU accreditation and recruitment for pediatric neuroscience and epilepsy, gastroenterology and otolaryngology.

The hospital is already seeing more interest from clinicians, he said, and he framed the benefit as extending to referring physicians as much as to families.

Schaefer said the hospital expects Parton's name to lift giving from other donors and that it was already seeing early results.

Dolly Parton's Contribution to Pediatric Healthcare

Dolly Parton made a significant donation to the East Tennessee Children's Hospital, which is now named after her. This donation supports various services, including the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Impact on NICU Services

• Funding Purpose: Parton's donation is aimed at enhancing the hospital's ability to care for newborns, particularly those in the NICU who require specialized medical attention.
• NICU Features: The NICU at Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital is equipped to handle very small and critically ill newborns, providing 24/7 care with a dedicated team of healthcare professionals.

No evidence she paid for individuals. At least via a 30 second web search.

Hold on - is Levar Burton dead? did I miss that?

Oh no he’s just shoe-in

Dolly and Steve coulda been on this mythical Rushmore before they died too.

Levar Burton was found alive and well in his bed this morning.

Her net worth was 0.6 billions.

The only thing stopping her from being an actual billionaire was her being good.

Yeah, and honestly this being in Tennessee means it's insulating a lot of people from the consequences of who they vote for.

Nearly all their congresspeople are/have been actively working to dismantle public healthcare in the US, and these mothers get their hospital bills payed by a celebrity while mothers in other states have to go into debt for maternity care?

It's a google maps link.

Just checking :)

(It is a sad but true fact I am learning about most celebrity deaths either via "trending topics" or random posts on tumblr or here.

Mostly because I don't watch the news any more).

I wish this were true, but it's not.

It is. https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/dolly-parton-s-health-care-legacy-two-decades-of-giving

No. Read what you linked to:

"Schaefer said the money is meant to fund a pediatric residency training program the hospital hopes to launch this year, telehealth aimed at rural communities outside Knoxville, level one children's surgical verification through the American College of Surgeons, level four NICU accreditation and recruitment for pediatric neuroscience and epilepsy, gastroenterology and otolaryngology. "

This is not the same as "Paid every bill for NICU".

edit: You even replied about how there's no mention in another reply... I am confused as to why you then say here that the tumblr is true?

“Dolly paid for NICU patients”

I wish it was true but it’s not

“Dolly funds NICU for twenty years”

see i was right!

Ok

Nowhere in that article does it talk about paying for NICU patients directly (it mentions a grant to help invest in staffing and resources).

It nowhere mentions funding NICU operations, only it's accredidation.

"Schaefer said the money is meant to fund a pediatric residency training program the hospital hopes to launch this year, telehealth aimed at rural communities outside Knoxville, level one children's surgical verification through the American College of Surgeons, level four NICU accreditation and recruitment for pediatric neuroscience and epilepsy, gastroenterology and otolaryngology. "

20 years of anything isn't mentioned anywhere.

Look, you need to be a tough literal-minded skeptic, fine, but this is an extremely weird hill to die on.

https://nurse.org/news/dolly-parton-nurses-healthcare-legacy/

Dolly Parton died Aug. 25 at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, surrounded by loved ones, in the health system she had championed for more than two decades. She was 80, and her team said she faced a brief battle with cancer.

. . . The renaming capped a long relationship with children's hospitals in her home state. In Nashville, Parton funded the pediatric cancer program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt with what Vanderbilt calls a transformational contribution, given in honor of her friend Dr. Naji Abumrad and her niece, Hannah Dennison, who was treated there for leukemia as a child. In 2022, she added $1.0 million for pediatric infectious disease research at Vanderbilt, including work on antibiotic resistance and infections in children being treated for cancer. "I love all children," she said when announcing that gift. "No child should ever have to suffer."

This January, to mark her 80th birthday, she released a new version of her 1976 song "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" with Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah, and Reba McEntire, with proceeds benefiting pediatric cancer research at Monroe Carell.

The Dolly Parton Birthing Unit in Her Hometown

Parton helped raise money to build LeConte Medical Center, a new hospital in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she grew up. A 2007 benefit concert brought in $500,000, and Dollywood and her Dixie Stampede dinner theater pledged $250,000 each, a combined $1.0 million for the project.

The hospital opened in Sevierville in 2010 with the 30,000-square-foot Dolly Parton Center for Women's Services. The center includes the Dolly Parton Birthing Unit, where more than 600 babies were born in 2024. In a rural county, that access means families can deliver close to home.

Speaking with the Chief Healthcare Executive, Schaefer admitted the facility was excited for their collaboration with Dolly. And when it came to the donation, he refused to reveal the amount. “What I can tell you is that she has made a generational and transformational commitment to Children’s and its mission, and that commitment is something that goes beyond our wildest expectations, that is beyond generous, and will be a lifeline for this mission for now and for years to come.”

Parton has supported children and health care causes in East Tennessee for years. In 1997, Parton and her Dollywood theme park donated $100,000 for a new birthing center to be built at Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center. And when LeConte Medical Center replaced Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center in 2010, it included a new Dolly Parton Center for Women's Services.

Parton has served as an honorary chairperson of the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization that supports Sevier County's health care needs. The foundation is named in honor of the doctor who delivered her.

# Dolly Parton's health care legacy: Two decades of giving

20 years of anything isn't mentioned anywhere.

It’s the title of the article you’re complaining about.

You say, after all that - the known gifts she gave, knowing she was very discreet with her charitable giving - that she wouldn’t pay an individual patient’s medical bills, okay. I disagree. I think you’re wrong. I think tumblr person probably had an experience extremely close to the one they describe. I’ve supported this with a number of articles from reputable outlets and the only delta is how generous we think Dolly was. You don’t want to give her the final mile, giving to individual mothers with sick infants, okay. But I’m gonna.

seriously, you keep moving the goalposts of definitions here...

I was pointing out that generalizing things using fictional stories detracted from the many specific things Dolly did.

You keep coming back with vaguely "this is kinda like that".... but that is the point. kinda like != exact.

you keep pushing that I am somehow saying she didn't help people. I am not.

" that she wouldn’t pay an individual patient’s medical bills" ... I never said that. I said there's no evidence she paid EVERY bill for a NICU.

" You don’t want to give her the final mile, giving to individual mothers with sick infants" ... I never said this.

If you can only attack me with nonsense I never said or implied, you need to realize you are part of the issue.

I only commented initially as a warning to others that Dolly was better than needing to make shit up, and to stick with things she actually did.

You seem to somehow think I was against Dolly? Dude... really?!

Done with you. Congratulations on contributing myths that will smear the goods she actually did. Now go create a thread somewhere about how Tim Curry saved 1000 infants from a burning building while having sex with David Bowie.

Goodbye.

Done with you.

Cowboy, you’re the one who won’t stfu

Congratulations on contributing myths that will smear the goods she actually did.

The goods that I found multiple sources for, and posted, and quoted? The goods you refuse to allow to support the OP? You’re so sure it couldn’t have happened. SAD!

Now go create a thread somewhere about how Tim Curry saved 1000 infants from a burning building while having sex with David Bowie.

Totally the same thing. I see why this is so difficult for you.

Goodbye.

I seriously doubt it. You won’t shut up. YOU started this idiocy, ok? So it would be super swell if you’d not reply again. But, of course you will. And that’s how we’re “Done with you”.

Dolly Parton, Mr Rogers, Steve Irwin, Bob Ross. Beloved people who will be remembered for generations.

I once read some comments on an old Facebook post regarding who made an impression on people when they were in a local school long ago. Some mentioned teachers who were atrocious, and many agreed. One person mentioned a lady who ran the local corner store near the school, who was always pleasant to people, used to treat the kids like individuals, remembered their names, sometimes give them extra lollies, that sort of thing. Many people reminisced fondly about that lady.

I found the contrast intriguing between how certain teachers were harshly remembered, versus how this lady was fondly remembered.

There are plenty of arseholes around the place who'll be remembered, but not fondly. If I'm remembered at all, I'd prefer it be as someone who is fondly remembered. Or, at least, someone who isn't in the arsehole pile.