Wisconsin has joined the rest of the nation, flying flags at half-mast for the next week in honor of Dolly Parton’s life and legacy. The United Way of Sheboygan posted a photo of the iconic singer-songwriter with a broken heart emoji and the simple words, “We will always love you.”
While her performance legacy is unmatched, with more than 100 million records sold, the woman who was raised in a 2-room cabin in the hollers of the Great Smokey Mountains believed in giving back. During her lifetime, she donated more than 600 million dollars to causes ranging from health care to disaster relief, to literacy. She created the Imagination Library, which mails out more than 3 million books each month, to children across the globe, including here in Sheboygan—for free. It was an initiative spurred from her experience with her own father, who never learned to read or write, instead, forced to work to support his family.
Parton’s family has expressed that anyone wishing to honor Parton’s memory do so by contributing to the Imagination Library. If you would like to learn more, or sign your child up, you can do so by visiting the United Way of Sheboygan County through this link.
Dolly Parton was 80 years old.
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