One week after Hurricane Helene made landfall and impacted East Tennessee, beloved country star Dolly Parton visited the area and announced how she’ll help.
Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Florida's Big Bend region. More than 215 people have been confirmed dead and many remain missing as rescue crews continue efforts in affected communities across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee, per reports on Friday.
Parton, who was born and raised in East Tennessee, confirmed that she’d teamed up with Walmart to help with relief efforts, and make a $1 million donation to the Mountain Ways Foundation. The organization is a nonprofit that aims to offer “ongoing disaster relief, coordinating efforts with local organizations and officials to ensure that essential resources reach the most affected areas efficiently,” including in the aftermath of Helene, per the organization’s website.
“I’m sure a lot of you wondered where I’ve been,” Parton said at an event on Friday in Newport, Tennessee. “Well, I’ve been like everybody else, trying to absorb everything going on, trying to figure out all the best ways to do this because then we had that crazy old Helene.” She sang “Helene” to her 1970s classic “Jolene,” swapping lyrics “I'm begging of you please don't take my man,” and “Please don't take him just because you can,” for “you came in here and broke us all apart,” and “but we’re all here to mend these broken hearts.”
“And that’s what I’m doing here,” Parton continued as hundreds of event attendees cheered. “I really, really wish that we were all together for another reason. But we all have seen the devastation. I mean, who knew? In our little part of the country here where I was born and raised just right down the road that we would have this kind of devastation?”
Parton is one of several country artists to take action to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene in East Tennessee and beyond, along with Morgan Wallen, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Chase Rice, Lady A and more. Parton, whose Dollywood park is located in East Tennessee, told East Tennesseans, “I just want you to know that I am totally with you because I am part of you.” She pledged, “these are my people. …and this is my home.”