Dolly Parton gets $100 million Jeff Bezos award for charity

Country music legend Dolly Parton is known for being a philanthropist — and she’s received more than that for charities of her choice.

Parton is the latest recipient of the Bezos Courage and Civilization Award, a $100 million award for “leaders who aim high, find solutions, and always do it politely.” “, Jeff Bezos’ partner Lauren Sanchez said in a statement posted on social media.

Parton can donate the amount as she sees fit.

“The woman you’re about to meet embodies these ideals so thoroughly, she gives with all her heart,” Bezos said as he presented the award. “What she’s done for children, literacy and so many other things is just amazing.”

The star’s philanthropic work includes her Imagination Library, which has given away more than 193 million books to children around the world and donated $1 million to help fund COVID vaccine research. -19 of Vanderbilt University. Her Dollywood Foundation also offers many scholarships.

“Wow! Did you say $100 million?” Parton said when she was called to the stage. “When people are in a position to help, you should help, and I know I always say I try to put my money in my heart.”

Parton’s recent accolades include being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Carnegie Charity Medal.

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“Everybody knows her music,” Eric Isaacs, president of the Carnegie Institution for Science and a member of the medal selection committee, recently told The Associated Press. “More broadly, they may know Dollywood for entertainment. But now they will know her for her philanthropy, which I’m not sure they had before.”

With a net worth of more than $124 billion, Forbes says, Bezos is one of the richest people in the world. Previous recipients of the Amazon CEO award are CNN commentator Van Jones and chef José Andrés.