Parton is a homegrown native of the Great Smoky Mountains in the Tennessee region that was recently jeopardized by the wildfires. Her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge was spared by chance of being consumed, but many other people in Tennessee were less fortunate – the National Park Service estimates that up to 700 structures could have been lost in the blaze, many of them homes in the Pigeon Forge area. Dolly Parton has a reputation as being one of the most generous philanthropists in the industry, but the Dollywood Foundation My People Fund is getting plenty of headlines for the directness of its response to the fire and the generosity of its financial gift to those that lost their homes. That’s a good thing, since Parton herself isn’t putting up all the cash for the cause, and you can make a donation (100 percent of which will purportedly go to victims) at a special site set up for the fund here.
