LOCKDOWN LEADER: Dolly Parton
There’s nothing like a crisis – the biggest, in fact, since the Second World War – to bring out the best (and worst) in humanity. Where lesser celebritIes might attempt to cheer us all up by sitting in a bathtub or singing terrible versions of terrible songs, it takes a real star to show her (coat of many) true colours. Step forward the one, the only Dolly Parton – who has just donated $1m dollars to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, working rather more than 9-5 in their efforts to find a cure for coronavirus.
As the C&W icon wrote on Instagram, “My longtime friend Dr. Naji Abumrad, who’s been involved in research at Vanderbilt for many years, informed me that they were making some exciting advancements towards research of the coronavirus for a cure. So I am making a donation of $1million to Vanderbilt towards that research and to encourage people that can afford it to make donations.” She signed off, “Keep the faith, Dolly.”
Fellow celebrity chums were quick to offer a (islands in the) stream of praise: “Dolly, you never cease to amaze me with your generosity and your incredible spirit,” said Reese Witherspoon, while model and blogger Tess Holliday called her an “actual angel”. Many even suggested she should be awarded the presidency in 2020. And let’s face it, she could definitely do a better job than the current guy.
Parton has also thanked key workers throughout the pandemic. “Thank you to the first responders, servicemen and servicewomen, and healthcare professionals all around the world,” she said on social media.
She is also embarking, via her Imagination Library, on a new 10-week series – Goodnight With Dolly – reading bedtime stories to children and families under lockdown. “This is something I have been wanting to do for quite a while, but the timing never felt quite right,” she said. “I think it is pretty clear that now is the time to share a story and to share some love. It is an honour for me to share the incredible talent of these authors and illustrators. They make us smile, they make us laugh and they make us think.” Her first story will be "The Little Engine That Could".