New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Dolly Parton and a number of her friends, including Reba McEntire,
Kenny Rogers and Alison Krauss, are set to perform during Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. (EST) on Great American Country (GAC).
The nationally-broadcast, three-hour telethon seeks to raise money for the Dollywood Foundation My People Fund, established by Parton, The Dollywood Company and Parton's dinner theaters in the wake of last week's wildfires in the entertainment icon's home area of Sevier County, Tennessee. Smoky Mountains Rise also will be simulcast across multiple radio chains, including iHeart Media's digital and select on-air platforms, Cumulus Media's NASH Nights LIVE, TuneIn's Country Roads channel, and several other platforms which are set to be announced shortly. Additionally, other celebrities joining Smoky Mountains Rise include will be announced in the coming days.
"My home in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee is some place special," Parton said. "Wildfires have affected many of the people—my people—who live in those beautiful mountains. 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."
The My People Fund will provide $1000 each month to Sevier County families whose homes are uninhabitable or were completely destroyed in the recent Smoky Mountain wildfires. Any family who lost their primary residence (renters and homeowners) due to the wildfires in Sevier County will be eligible. A pre-application for those affected is available at dollywoodfoundation.org.
During the telethon, viewers will be asked to call 1-866-CARE MORE to donate to the My People Fund.
Anyone who would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to the My People Fund may visit dollywoodfoundation.org. For those wishing to send donations via mail, those contributions should be sent to: My People Fund, c/o Dollywood Foundation, 111 Dollywood Lane, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863.
Please help the Dollywood Foundation share the word about this effort by using the hashtags #MyPeopleFund and #someplacespecial.
DOLLY PARTON ANNOUNCEMENT VIDEO DOWNLOAD LINK.
ABOUT SMOKY MOUNTAINS RISE
Smoky Mountains Rise is a three-hour telethon broadcast nationally on Great American Country on Tuesday, Dec. 13 to raise money for the Dollywood Foundation's My People Fund to benefit those affected by the Sevier County, Tennessee wildfires. Smoky Mountains Rise is executive produced by Dolly Parton,
Danny Nozell, Kirt Webster, Pete Owens and Scott Durand. Produced by Edie Hoback, Jeremy Westby,
Shanna Strassberg, Nic Dugger and Shantel Klinger.
ABOUT DOLLY PARTON
Dolly Parton is the most honored female country performer of all time. Achieving 25 RIAA certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards, she has had 25 songs reach #1 on the Billboard Country charts, a record for a female artist. She has 41 career top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. All-inclusive sales of singles, albums, hits collections, paid digital downloads and compilation usage during her Hall of Fame career have reportedly topped a staggering 100 million records.
She has garnered seven Grammy Awards, 10 Country
Music Association Awards, five Academy of Country
Music Awards, three American
Music Awards and is one of only five female artists to win the Country
Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award.
In 1999 Parton was inducted as a member of the Country
Music Hall of Fame. She has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and became a member of the
National Academy of Popular
Music Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001. Broadcast
Music honored Parton with their Icon Award in 2003, and in 2004 the U.S. Library of Congress presented her with their Living Legend Award for her contribution to the cultural heritage of the United States. This was followed in 2005 with the
National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given by the U.S. government for excellence in the arts.
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