There are some celebrities who seem like they would be your best friend almost instantly, and to me, Dolly Parton definitely lands in that category. Not only is she hilarious and super sweet, but she's also incredibly generous and super passionate.
Instagram | @dollyparton
Dolly Parton Hand-Delivered $500 To Students Who Graduated High School
One of Dolly's biggest passions is children's education.
Instagram | @dollyparton
Dolly started her Imagination Library in 1995, which allows any child who signs up for the program to receive a free book every month until they start kindergarten in order to encourage childhood literacy.
She's gone to great lengths to make sure kids learn to read and stay in school — even once handing out some cold, hard cash.
Instagram | @dollyparton
Okay, well, not cash.
According to her website, in 1991, Dolly learned about a problem in Sevier County schools were over 30% of students never graduated high school.
After The Dollywood Foundation did some research into why this might be, Dolly came up with The Buddy Program.
Instagram | @dollyparton
Dolly threw an assembly for seventh and eighth grade students in the area, and told every student to choose a Buddy. She then told them that she would personally deliver $500 to each and every student who graduated from high school, but only if their Buddy did too.
The program was a huge success, and the dropout rate plummeted to 6%.
Dolly followed through as well — she personally hand-delivered a $500 check to every graduating student from that class.
What an amazing idea from Dolly!
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