Billionaire, Jeff Bezos, awarded country music icon, Dolly Parton, $100 million over the weekend to a charity of his choice. Apart from its popular music, the beloved country is known for its philanthropic acts and large donations to charities over the years.
Parton previously made a $1 million donation to help with COVID-19 vaccine research in 2020 and opened a foundation that aims to help children achieve literacy. The foundation houses a book-giving program that distributes free, high-quality titles to children in the US and beyond.
Bezos, worth nearly $124 billion, has taken a more philanthropic role with his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, since leaving his active role at Amazon. He previously donated $10 billion to the Earth Fund to help with climate change. Bezos also recently gave $200 million to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.
Read on to learn more about the massive cash awards.
Dolly Parton Receives Massive $100 Million Award
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This weekend, Parton was presented with the Bezos Award for Courage & Civilization by Bezos and his partner, Sanchez. The award comes with a $100 million check “to be directed to such charity as (the recipient) sees fit.” According to Sanchez, the prize recognizes “leaders who aim high, find solutions, and who always do it civilly.”
In announcing the winners, the Amazon founder said, “The women you will meet embody these ideals so thoroughly. She gives with all her heart – what she does for children, literacy, and so much more is incredible.”
After the announcement, the country artist took to the stage and hugged Bezos before exclaiming about the amount of money the award gave away. “Wow!” Parton begins. “Did you say $100 million? When people are in a position to help, they should help.”
Dolly Parton Pledges To Do The Best With Money
We’ve just announced the new Courage and Civility award recipients — @DollyParton, who lead with all his heart, and will use this $100 million award to help many people. He joins previous award recipients, @VanJones68 and @Chefjoseandres. Congratulations, Dolly! pic.twitter.com/dzTuoGVp3G
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 12, 2022
Further, in her acceptance speech, Parton revealed that she always strives to do good with her wealth, and this will be no different. “I always say I try to put my money where my heart is, and I think you do the same. I’ll do my best to do good with this money, thank you, Jeff,” the country singer said.
Bezos and Sanchez posted about the new award recipients on their respective social media pages. “We just announced a new recipient of the Courage and Civility award — @DollyParton, who is leading the way with all her heart and will use this $100 million award to help so many people. She joins previous award recipients @VanJones68 and @Chefjoseandres. Congratulations, Dolly!” the businessman’s Twitter post read.
Parton quoted the post with the same comment as her acceptance speech and again promised to do her best with the amount she was given. “I try to put my money where my heart is. I will do my best to do good things with this money,” wrote the artist. “Thank you @JeffBezos #LaurenSanchez”
Dolly Parton Is A Longtime Activist And Philanthropist
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Parton is a well-known philanthropist and humanitarian. In 2020, the country artist supported the Moderna Covid vaccine by donating $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to support the organization’s coronavirus research.
The “9 to 5” singer also founded the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to help and inspire children in her district to strive for educational success. The foundation also includes the Imagination Library. This is a program that provides free high-quality books to over a million children around the world every month.
In 2021, Parton used her royalties from Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You” to purchase a Nashville strip mall in support of the local black community. The singer was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame recently, though he says the lack of rock albums cost him his right.
Other Jeff Bezos Courage & Civility Award winners
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Before Parton, Chef Jose Andres was a winner of the Bezos Award for Courage & Civility. He was given the award because of his World Central Kitchen, which was founded in 2010. The not-for-profit non-governmental organization aims to provide food for people around the world following natural disasters. Chef Andres donates $100 million to help feed war-torn Ukraine.
The previous year saw Van Jones, co-founder of Dreams.org, receive the award. The purpose of the platform is to address “mass incarceration, climate change and poverty by advocating for new laws, creating green jobs and teaching low-income kids how to code.”
In March, Jones revealed that he had about a decade to distribute the $100 million. The Bezos Courage & Civilization Award is just one of several philanthropic acts the billionaire has done since stepping down as Amazon CEO.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
