Who’s having a better November than Dolly Parton? The country icon was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last weekend, and she followed that up this weekend by accepting this year’s Bezos Courage and Civility Award from Jeff Bezos and his partner, Lauren Sanchez, and $100 million to put toward philanthropic work.
“Jeff and I are so proud to share that we have a new Bezos Courage and Civility Award winner — a woman who gives with her heart and leads with love and compassion in every aspect of her work,” Sanchez wrote on Instagram. “We can’t wait to see all the good that you’re going to do with this $100 million award, @DollyParton.”
In Sanchez’s Instagram video, Parton joined them on stage and gave a speech: “Did you say 100 million dollars?! When people are in position to help, you should help. And I know that I’ve always said, I try to put my money where my heart is. And I think you do the same thing. I will do my best to do good things with this money. Thank you, Jeff.”
I try to put my money where my heart is. I will do my best to do good things with this money
Thank you @JeffBezos #LaurenSanchez https://t.co/8RHh51z3jT
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) November 13, 2022
Parton has a long philanthropic history, including her COVID-19 Research Fund donating toward the Moderna vaccine. Earlier this year, she donated $1 million to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center to aid in research around pediatric infectious diseases. So, Parton will undoubtedly distribute this $100 million award responsibly. But Jason Isbell threw out a light-hearted joke about how Parton might be able to use it: “Dwitter,” an alternative option to Elon Musk’s Twitter.
We could have checks of many colors, denoting various things
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) November 13, 2022
It won’t happen, but a Dolly Parton-led social media platform is fun to fantasize about.