Dolly Parton, Walmart announce millions in donations to Helene victims

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Country star Dolly Parton announced significant donations to Hurricane Helene flood relief efforts at a Friday event in Newport, Tenn.

The music icon, speaking at a Walmart, said she was making a $1 million donation to the Mountain Ways Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing immediate assistance to flood victims in the southeastern U.S. Parton’s Dollywood Foundation and her businesses in East Tennessee — Dollywood Parks & Resorts, Dolly Parton’s Stampede and Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show — matched her donation, bringing the total contributions to $2 million.

“We wish that we were all together for another reason, but we all have seen the devastation. I mean, who knew in our little part of the country here, where I was born, raised just right down the road, that we would have this kind of devastation?” Parton asked.

“And I look around and I think ‘These are my mountains, these are my valleys,” she added. “These are my people, and this is my home.'”

Eugene Naughton, the president of the Dollywood Company, spoke just before Parton, reflecting on the 2016 fires in Sevier County, and how they proved how resilient the community is.

“Just one week ago, thousands of lives again were impacted across East Tennessee, Western North Carolina and points beyond, and while in Sevier County we were spared the major damage, the lessons we learned from the Smoky Mountain wildfire, those of resilience, those of determination, and those of love for others, led us to reach out to our neighbors to determine how we could help following the recent flooding,” Naughton said.

During the event, Walmart U.S. President and CEO John Furner announced the company, including Sam’s Club and the Walmart Foundation, would also be donating a total of $10 million to hurricane relief efforts across the affected states. Part of the money will be going to the East Tennessee Foundation.

Furner said his family moved to Franklin, Tenn., in 1979, and he had watched as Walmart expanded into Appalachia and East Tennessee.

“We’ll be here. Not until the media leaves, but until we recover, and that’s what’s going to happen here, we’re going to recover,” Furner added.

Dollywood had already worked with its sponsorship partner Coca-Cola to donate a semi-truck full of water for distribution in Cocke County. Dollywood has also donated 60,000 reusable masks, 30,000 disposable protective garments and 2.5 million disposable masks to be used for cleanup efforts across East Tennessee.

In conjunction with the donation centers established by the city of Pigeon Forge, Dollywood will become a donation drop-off location for those wishing to donate cleanup items and necessities.

Dolly Parton announces donations to Helene relief at an event in Tennessee on Friday. (WATE)

Wrapping up the event, Parton answered a few questions, including one asking what she would say to those who have lost everything.

“I know it’s easy for us to say, ‘Oh, things are going to get better’ when things are still really bad. All we can say is that ‘We are with you, we love you. We hope that things get better real soon and we’re going to do our part to try to make that possible,'” she said.

Parton is well known for her philanthropy work throughout the region, especially in times of disaster. In 2021, Parton donated a portion of ticket sales from Dollywood and her many dinner shows to help those affected by flooding in Middle Tennessee. Parton was also involved with the Dollywood Foundation’s My People Fund, which gave $1,000 to Sevier County families whose homes were uninhabitable or destroyed by the 2016 Sevier County wildfires. In total, more than $9 million was raised during a star-studded telethon, allowing Parton to surprise the families being helped through the fund with a final $5,000 check.

On Thursday, reports emerged that another country star from East Tennessee, Morgan Wallen, had reached out to Governor Bill Lee to offer assistance to victims of flooding. Earlier in the week, Red Cross officials confirmed that Wallen’s foundation had donated half a million dollars toward the relief efforts after Hurricane Helene.