Dolly Parton donates $1 million to recovery efforts

Music icon Dolly Parton has announced she will make a personal donation of $1 million (£762,000) to disaster relief efforts following Hurricane Helene.

At an event in her home state of Tennessee on Friday, the 78-year-old said the money would come “from my own bank account.”

Parton's local commercial businesses – including the Dollywood amusement park – would also donate the same amount to the Mountain Ways Foundation, which helps those affected by flooding in the area.

During her speech, Parton began singing, singing “Helene, Helene” to the tune of her 1973 hit “Jolene.”

At least 225 people have died as a result of the Helene storm that hit the southeastern United States at the end of September.

Helene is the deadliest storm on the mainland since Katrina in 2005.

When Helene made landfall as a category four hurricane, it damaged buildings, caused flash flooding and knocked out power to millions of homes. Over half a million properties have still been without power since Saturday.

The U.S. government said the cleanup could take years.

While a large portion of the deaths occurred in North Carolina, others were also recorded in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

“This is my home,” Parton said at Friday’s news conference, held outside a Walmart store in Newport, Tennessee.

“God has been good to me and so has the public, and I feel like if I can give back in some way, I'm always willing to do that. I want to feel like I'm doing my best part.”

Explaining that many of her relatives lived in the area, the singer said: “I was heartbroken like everyone else and just amazed and devastated by it.”

She added: “All these people feel like my people.”

According to this, eleven people have been killed by the storm in Tennessee so far last official balance sheetothers are not yet known.

At least two Factory workers were swept away by floods in Erwin, in the northeast of the state.

When Parton was asked what her message was to victims, she replied, “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 things get better soon – and we will do our part to make that possible.”

At the same time as the press conference, Walmart announced that it would increase funding for its turnaround efforts to $10 million (£7.6 million).

The supermarket chain's CEO John Furner said: “These are not just places where we have stores. These are communities in which we work and live.”

He also described Parton as “a true American legend – and not just because of the music, the art, the business, but because of her heart.”

The country singer and songwriter has already made major donations in response to life-changing events.

In 2016, her charity has pledged to donate $1,000 per month to families affected by wildfires in Tennessee.

And in 2020 she has contributed $1 million to the development of one of the Covid-19 vaccines.