Dolly Parton is an American treasure. On top of being a country music superstar for 50 years, she has an incredibly big heart, which she proved once again with her $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University which helped develop Moderna’s version of the coronavirus vaccine.
The Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund was revealed in the New England Journal of Medicine. Parton was making an appearance on NBC’s “Today” when the hosts brought it to her attention. “That’s what I understand this morning,” Parton said on the show. “I’m just happy that anything I do can help somebody else, and when I donated the money to the COVID fund, I just wanted it to do good. Evidently, it is. Let’s just hope we find a cure real soon.”
Moderna has had a strong week, as it announced on Monday that its vaccine is showing a 94.5% success rate in testing.
“I just felt so proud to have been part of that little seed money that will hopefully grow into something great and help to heal this world,” Parton added. “I’m a very proud girl today to know I had anything at all to do with something that’s going to help us through this crazy pandemic.”
Parton has been a giver her entire life. She founded the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to inspire children in rural Tennessee to achieve educational success, and over the years the foundation has donated more than 100 million books to children around the world.
Parton’s 75th birthday is coming up soon, and wouldn’t you know it, Playboy has offered her the cover of an upcoming issue to celebrate it for her. No word on if she plans to accept that gesture from them.
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