Dolly Helps Nashville!

Dolly Parton announces 'Dolly Helps Nashville', an effort to focus on raising money to have families devastated by May 1-3, 2010 flood waters in Nashville, TN and 52 surrounding counties.

"I grew up in the Smokies in East Tennessee, which was my first home. I moved to Nashville 46 years ago and that is my home now. I have family and friends in both places, and when one place hurts, I think it is just right for the other to help.

On May 22 and 23, I'm having my Dollywood and Dixie Stampede companies help me host my Dolly Helps Nashville weekend. The proceeds from every guest to both of my parks and my Dixie Stampede will go to a special fund to assist Nashville flood victims. We're especially going to concentrate on those folks who lost their homes and personal possessions in this terrible flood.

So many of the folks from Nashville have been coming to the Smokies. Over the last 25 years, they have helped Dollywood, Dixie Stampede and Dollywood’s Splash Country and this entire vacation area grow and that's why it's our turn to help!

I am challenging other businesses in Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Gatlinburg to make this a destination-wide effort.

I want all of my fans worldwide to come to Dollywood the weekend of May 22 and 23. If you can't be there in person, then I hope you'll donate to flood victims on my secured website or mail donations by check to..."

The Dollywood Foundation

2700 Dollywood Parks Blvd

Pigeon Forge, TN 37863

For more information: visit https://dollyparton.com/

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has 106 enrollments in Mississippi on Thursday!

Young Leaders in Philanthropy (YLP) in Jackson, MS enrolled 106 deserving kids from Community Pride Headstart in Canton, MS on Thursday!

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is not a charity or a social service, but rather a gift to all preschoolers in a community. Learning to read is a process much like learning to speak or learning to walk. The process begins at birth. Children who have access to books and who are read to by their parent or guardian early on have a much better chance for success in school.

This program is open to all children under the age of 5 years and residing in a region that is part of the Imagination Library program. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library provides free books to children until their 5th birthday. One book is mailed to the child's home each month -- if you have more than one child registered in the program, each child will receive one book per month. All books are selected for the Imagination Library program by a panel of educators and are geared to the specific age of the child receiving the books.

YLP is a group of emerging young leaders who are committed to creating real, lasting change for good. They provide educational and asset building opportunites that create pathways to prosperity for families involved. Together with Community Pride, a private company categorized under Head Start Center, YLP's invest in our community through United Way's overarching mission.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library continues to expand in The United States, Canada and The United Kingdom, continuing to promote early childhood literacy for families across the globe.

Find out more by visiting: http://imaginationlibrary.com/

Community volunteers making efforts after Nashville flooding.

As Middle Tennessee takes stock of the rising waters, area residents are putting their money and their manpower into the region’s recovery efforts. Tens of thousands of families have been displaced. In addition, Nashville landmarks took devastating blows. The Opryland Hotel, including the Grand Ole Opry House, where the legendary Dolly Parton often performed, has experienced millions of dollars worth of damage.

Here's how you can help:

The Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management is encouraging residents who want to volunteer to sign up through Hands On Nashville. Register at http://www.hon.org/. The city expects approved volunteer opportunities to be available by mid-week. As of Monday afternoon, more than 3,200 people had registered, said Brian Williams, executive director of Hands On Nashville.

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management, is collecting donations to support flood relief, restoration and clean-up efforts in Davidson County through the Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund. It has also activated its Tennessee Emergency Response Fund to help communities in need beyond Davidson County. Donations can be made online to both funds at www.cfmt.org/floodrelief

The Nashville Area Red Cross also is accepting donations to support its relief efforts of the flooding victims. Donations can be made at http://www.nashvilleredcross.org/

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the families harmed by the terrible storms this weekend. May they find at least some comfort in knowing the Imagination Library family holds them close to our heart"

David Dotson
President, The Dollywood Foundation

Over 5,000 friends and fans on Facebook!

Just a few years ago, the idea of an online social network was revolutionary. Developing a system to reach out to an international group of people who share common interests is now easier than ever, thanks to Facebook. Affiliates within Dolly Parton's Imagination Library have provided opportunities for individuals all over the world to express their thoughts about the program.

Proud to announce over 5,000 people have united online... including families who love receiving the books each month and those who would like more information on how to start a program in their area.

Sharing news stories and photos from recent events help to create awareness as well as promote fundraising for childhood literacy. On March 25th, CBC news in Manitoba produced a story about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library launch in Rolling River. On April 15th, the Middletown Community Foundation celebrated the 10,000th Imagination Library book being delivered to a newborn in Middletown, Ohio. Open discussion forums and "wall posts" such as these continue to appear on Facebook every day.

Congratulations to our new Affiliates in Michigan, Wyoming, New York, Wigan and Calderdale... Welcome!

You must live in a particpating community in order to receive these books. Begin by enrolling your child online and find out if you currently live in an area that provides books through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

Visit http://www.imaginationlibrary.com/ to get started!

Dream more, Learn more, Care more, Be more!

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, expanding in The United States, Canada and The United Kingdom, is pleased to announce that new communities are launching the program and continuing to promote early childhood literacy for families across the globe.

Looking to start something like this in your area?

Here’s how it works:

A community must make the program accessible to all preschool children in their area. The community pays for the books and mailing, promotes the program, registers the children, and enters the information into the database.

From there The Dollywood Foundation takes over and manages the system to deliver the books to the home.

You can find out more of the operational details on other pages in this website http://www.imaginationlibrary.com/
– so what are you waiting for?

Hundreds of communities are providing books to hundreds of thousands of children.

Dolly Parton wanted to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families. She wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.

Dream more, Learn more, Care more, Be more!