Hi friend, how are you?
By now you’ve most likely heard that we lost Dolly Parton
This one is hard, especially for us that grew up watching her
Dolly was soooooo much more than just a pretty face / singer / actress / entertainer
Dolly was special
She had a heart of gold and a love for people that shined through on so many fronts
Most of her songs were about love
She had 25 #1 hits on The Billboard Hot Country List
She holds the Guinness book of World Records for the most #1’s by any female artist
But are you aware of Dolly’s philanthropic endeavors?
Over the years she donated over $600,000,000.00 to charities and disaster aid programs
Yeah, 6 / Hundred / Million
Dolly helped build a hospital for kids with cancer
Created literacy programs
And established a fund that offered financial incentive to kids not to drop out of school
That program took the high school drop out rate from 35% down to 6%
I could go on and on and on and on, but like I said, Dolly was special
Most of us will never be able to give away 600 Million to charity in our lifetime
But we all can do something to help someone else
Whether it’s through our time, treasure or talents
We all have the ability within us to make the world a better place
You, me, even the man on the moon, we all do
You remember Dolly’s song “I will always love you”
It’s a heartbreaker for sure
Whitney Huston redid it for the movie “The Bodyguard”
Well Dolly wrote that song not to make a hit, no she wrote it as therapy for herself
It was about her ending the long time working relationship and mentorship she had with Porter Wagoner
She knew it was time for her to leave his world and go out to create one of her own
Wagoner was not wanting Dolly to leave the show and made things hard for her
It was when she sang that song to him in his office that he cried saying it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard and then allowed her to exit and pursue her solo career
The world needs more love, grace and people like Dolly
Invest wisely, live charitably and be well
Brother Bill