Dolly Parton contributes to the alleviation initiatives for Hurricane Helene.
Dolly Parton, alongside her organizations such as Dollywood Parks & Resorts, The Dollywood Foundation, Dolly Parton's Stampede, and Pirates Voyage, teamed up with Walmart to offer substantial aid in the wake of the catastrophic flooding that struck the Appalachian area.
The collaboration was unveiled at a Walmart in Newport, Tennessee, where provisions like meals, showers, and laundry facilities were made available to community members affected by the overwhelming floods.
Present at the event, Parton shared her sentiments, stating that she's been attempting to come to terms with the destruction and casualties caused by the hurricane, which have claimed more than 200 lives and left numerous individuals homeless.
"We're all here to mend these broken hearts," she said, further expressing her wish that "we were all together for a different reason."
Referencing her roots in the region, she mused, "Who would have thought, in our little corner of the world – where I was born and raised, just a stone's throw away – that we'd experience this sort of devastation? When I look around, I think, 'These are my mountains, these are my valleys, these are my rivers... these are my people, and this is my home.'”
Emphasizing the personal significance of this tragedy for her, Parton shared, "I have a lot of family living here, and when we heard about this, it was heart-wrenching, not only because it affected my family but because every one of these people feels like family to me. We're all connected, and we're suffering together in some way."
She pledged a $1 million personal donation to the Mountain Ways Foundation, a registered charity dedicated to supplying emergency aid to victims of the Helene flood. In addition, her East Tennessee-based businesses, Dollywood Foundation, and The Dollywood Foundation planned to match her donation to Mountain Ways with an additional $1 million contribution.
At the event, Walmart US president and CEO John Furner revealed that Walmart, including Sam's Club and the Walmart Foundation, would contribute a total of $10 million to aid efforts in the hurricane-affected states.
The colossal Category 4 Hurricane Helene left a trail of destruction over 500 miles wide across the Southeast, resulting in more than 200 fatalities – the second-highest death toll from a hurricane to hit the US mainland in the past 50 years, trailing only Hurricane Katrina 19 years ago.
The storm dumped an unprecedented amount of water on the southern Appalachians over a span of 3 days, classifying it as a once-in-1,000 year rainfall event for the region, as per the National Weather Service.
All that water cascaded down the mountains, transforming the slopes into mudslides of destruction in certain areas, ultimately erasing homes from their foundations. Water levels surged to unprecedented heights, flooding dozens of bridges, roads, and homes, which were then carried away by the raging waters.
CNN’s Eric Zerkel contributed to this report.
In light of the disaster, Dolly Parton's entertainment ventures, such as Dollywood Parks & Resorts and Dolly Parton's Stampede, offered temporary facilities for affected community members, providing them with meals, showers, and laundry services. Acknowledging the impact of the hurricane, Parton expressed, "We're all here to mend these broken hearts, wishing we were all together for a different reason."
