Dolly Parton has plenty of silver and gold to give away to charity thanks to Jeff Bezos.
The Amazon founder has honored the country singer with his Courage and Civility Award and awarded her with $100 million to be distributed to charities as she sees fit.
"What she's done for kids and literacy and so many other things is just incredible," Bezos said.
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Parton founded the Imagination Library, which supplies free books to kids under five; since 1995, it has gifted over 190 million books, according to its website. She also helped fund research that led to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine and in 2022 donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for studying pediatric infectious diseases, among other charitable efforts. Parton was named one of the 2021 People of the Year by People and was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
"When people are in a position to help, you should help, and I know that I've always said I try to put my money where my heart is," Parton said, adding, "I will do my best to do good things with this money."
Speaking with CNN, Bezos praised Parton as "unifying," explaining he chose her for the award because, "Look at what she's done and how she's led her life. And the way she's done it, these bold things, always with civility and kindness." Bezos also told CNN he intends to give away the majority of his wealth to charity during his lifetime.
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