Dolly Parton Receives the First-Ever Excellence in Leadership Award: ‘I Am Grateful’
As much as the legendary Dolly Parton is known for her impressive catalog of music, she is also known just as much for her charitable donations throughout the years.
And on Saturday (Aug. 11), Parton was recognized for that giving heart of hers, when she was awarded with the first-ever Dolly Parton Excellence in Leadership Awards from the Country Music Hall of Fame Leadership Tennessee organization.
Leadership Tennessee officials say Parton was given the award for her “selfless work to improve lives across Tennessee," and she's certainly put forth a considerable amount of effort in that arena. Parton’s various contributions to the people of Tennessee have been wide-ranging through the years—from the work she put in to support victims of the devastating Gatlinburg wildfires in 2016, to the inspiration she has given millions through her Imagination Library, which provides books to children from birth to the beginning of high school.
“My dream was to make as many people happy as I could in this life, and I am grateful to Leadership Tennessee and First Lady Crissy Haslam for recognizing our work done to improve the lives of all Tennesseans,” Parton says in a release of her latest honor. “Even more humbling is for decades to come the future leaders of Tennessee will receive an award with the Parton family name attached to it, and for that I am truly honored and thankful.”
It’s a wonder that Parton has much time for anything else, but the country dynamo does...or she finds the time, somehow. In fact, according to various interview, it sounds like she will be soon working on a sequel to her smash 1980 movie 9 to 5 with co-stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
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