Now THAT's Giving Back!
Everyone has heard of Dolly Parton, the iconic, classic country singer. She is 76 years young, an amazing businesswoman, and still going strong.
She’s an even better philanthropist.
In her lifetime she has set up multiple charities & foundations, including the Dollywood Foundation and her famous “free book a month club” for children through age 5. Education and literacy have been a continual theme of hers, and she focuses especially on East Tennessee's Sevier County where she grew up very poor. She started the Buddy Program in middle school, whereby kids were encouraged to support a buddy through high school graduation. If they both graduated, her foundation gave each kid $500.
In addition, she helped fund the Moderna COVID vaccine, as well as providing up to 6 mos of $1,000 per month for families whose homes were devastated by wildfires in eastern Tennessee a couple of years ago.
With appreciation, I share this news about yet another education-based opportunity she is funding. Check it out!
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PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Dollywood on Tuesday announced they'll start paying a hundred percent of tuition for employees who wish to further their education. This includes the cost of fees and textbooks.
The education benefit package is available to all team members on the first day of their employment. The company says it's a way for employees at all levels to pursue their personal and professional dreams.
Piloted by Dolly Parton's operating partner Herschend Enterprises, the program from GROW U. will mark a significant investment for workers. President of Dollywood Company Eugene Naughton says it's an opportunity for employees to grow.
"One of The Dollywood Foundation’s key tenets is to ‘learn more.’ This program is created with that very tenet in mind. We want our hosts to develop themselves through advanced learning to fulfill the foundation’s other tenets: care more, dream more, and be more."
The program will officially launch Feb. 24 for all seasonal, part-time, and full-time employees at Dollywood Parks & Resorts. Hosts can enroll in the program on their first day of employment.
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Learn more, Care more, Dream more, Be more. Really strong tenets we can all support.
This is one star who has earned her sparkles instead of demanding them. I admire her even more for providing this outstanding benefit for her employees of Dollywood. In case you are wondering about the picture atop this blog, she spells Dollywood with a butterfly for the letter W.
Bet they won’t have much of a problem hiring this spring……
Next week, another demographic is turning its’ back on higher education.
Until Next Time,
All My Best,
Bonnie Burkett
