Dolly Parton has always been a kind, genuine and generous celebrity who has used her fame to help people.

Besides being a successful superstar as a singer and actress, she is also a philanthropist, having done much to help people over the years through things like her Dollywood Foundation and Imagination Library. 

Her library is a literacy program that has donated more than 100 million children’s books since the library was founded in 1995.

Her Dollywood Foundation, has among other things, donated $1000 per month to families who were impacted by the wildfires in Tennessee in 2016. 

Dolly has a special place in her heart for her home state. She explained her donation to the folks affected by the wildfires, “As you may know by now, there have been terrible wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains, the same mountains where I grew up and where my people call home. I have always believed that charity begins at home, and my home is someplace special. That’s why I’ve asked my Dollywood companies … to help me establish the ‘My People Fund.’”

Even her Dollywood theme park was created in part to help employ thousands of people in East Tennessee.

And now, because of one of her most important philanthropy decisions yet, the entire planet will be the beneficiary of her kindness because her $1 million donation to battle COVID-19 has resulted in the Moderna vaccine.

Appearing on the Today show on Tuesday, Parton talked about how her donation has played a role in the success of the COVID-19 vaccine which Moderna says is 94.5% effective. She said, “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.”

Parton had talked to a longtime friend, Dr. Naji Abumrad, who treated her after her 2014 car crash, about his research at Vanderbilt. He told her that they were making great advancements towards research of the coronavirus for a cure and that led her to make the million dollar donation.

Parton’s donation has given people something we’ve been short of – hope. The vaccine news has lifted a fog, just like one of her songs talks about…I can see sunshine again. And I can see the blue sky where there one was fog and rain.