--- title: Dolly Parton Creates Fund for Tennessee Wildfire Sufferers description: Dolly Parton is establishing a relief fund to help those who have lost their homes in the Great Smoky Mountain wildfire raging through part of Tennessee. canonical: https://time.com/4587132/dolly-parton-tennessee-wildfire/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-01T13:10:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:55:28.467Z og:title: Dolly Parton Creates Fund for Tennessee Wildfire Victims og:description: She announced "My People Fund" will help families in Sevier County, Tenn. og:url: https://time.com/4587132/dolly-parton-tennessee-wildfire/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96fdeadb1c59378d/6988b032656a3fc7a7bce03a/dolly-parton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2866 og:image:height: 1612 og:image:alt: 24th Annual Movieguide Awards Gala - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Dolly Parton Creates Fund for Tennessee Wildfire Victims twitter:description: She announced "My People Fund" will help families in Sevier County, Tenn. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96fdeadb1c59378d/6988b032656a3fc7a7bce03a/dolly-parton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Dolly Parton Will Give Tennessee Wildfire Victims a Helping Hand > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=17c20ca2-2d50-4f84-9bde-f5f77a6f4efc&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Dolly Parton Will Give Tennessee Wildfire Victims a Helping Hand [Watch (HLS stream): Dolly Parton Will Give Tennessee Wildfire Victims a Helping Hand](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xcHCNra5.m3u8) (1:23)  _Published 2016-12-01. Dolly Parton is establishing a relief fund to help those who have lost their homes in the Great Smoky Mountain wildfire raging through part of Tennessee._  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Dec 1, 2016 1:10 PM UTC  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Dec 1, 2016 1:10 PM UTC Dolly Parton is [establishing a relief fund](http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7596030/dolly-parton-starts-fund-tennessee-wildfire) to help those who have lost their homes in the Great Smoky Mountain wildfire raging [through part of Tennessee](http://time.com/4585288/wildfire-tennessee-gatlinburg-dollywood/). Parton announced Wednesday that the “My People Fund” will provide $1,000 per month to families in Sevier County affected by the fire. Parton was born in Sevier County, and the fire [threatened to damage](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dolly-parton-heartbroken-tennessee-fires/story?id=43849308) her “Dollywood” theme park on Tuesday. “I’ve always believed charity begins at home and my home is some place special,” she said in the video. “We want to provide a hand up to those families who have lost everything in the fires. I know it has been a trying time for my people and this assistance will help get them back on their feet.” Parton said the various “Dollywood” companies, including the theme park and dinner theater attractions, will help with funding the initiative. A [website for the “My People Fund”](http://dollywoodfoundation.org/) said more information will be available on Friday, Dec. 2. ## Transcript Hi, this is Dolly. Now, I know many of you, like me, have been watching the wildfires that have affected the Great Smokey Mountains around Gatlinburg, Tennessee where I grew up. The Red Cross has done a wonderful job with their emergency response efforts in helping the people of Severe County after these wildfires. The support, as always, has been overwhelming. Now I've always believed that charity begins at home. And that's why I've asked my Dollywood companies, including the Dollywood theme park, the Dream More Resort, my dinner theater attractions, including Dixie Stampede and Lumberjack Adventure Plus my Dollywood Foundation to help me establish a My People's fund. Now we want to provide a hand- up to all those families that have lost everything in the fires. And to recover, we want to make sure that the Dollywood Foundation provides a $ 1, 000 a month to all those families that have lost their homes in the fires until they get back up on their feet. I know it's been a trying time for my people, and this assistance will help. Beginning Friday, you can join our efforts to recover from these deadly fires by visiting dollywoodfoundation. org. Thank you for your help, continued prayers, and your concern. 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