Dolly Parton’s BIG announcement!
Dolly Parton has announced plans to donate $1 million to Vanderbilt University’s COVID-19 research efforts.
"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. I am making a donation of $1 million to Vanderbilt towards that research and to encourage people that can afford it to make donations," she wrote in an Instagram post.
The two have been friends since 2014, when he treated her after a minor car accident.
The friendship between the pair was discussed in the podcast Dolly Parton’s America, hosted by public radio veteran Jad Abumrad.
"At some point, Jad realised that there was someone calling on his father's phone and their name was an interesting pseudonym. He asked his dad about it and he says, 'Oh, it's Dolly. I just help out when she needs some advice,'" Dolly Parton's America producer Shima Oliaee said in an interview with Pocket Casts. "He's a good friend that advises her when she has a question. So that was the first step."
This isn’t the first time Parton has showed off her generosity. In 1990, the singer established Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that sends low-income children free books every month from birth to age five. During the coronavirus pandemic, Parton is hosting Goodnight With Dolly, a series where she reads children’s books out loud, beginning with The Little Engine That Could.
It is estimated that a vaccine for COVID-19 could be ready within 12-18 months, with over 20 vaccines currently in the works.