Dolly Parton Announces Fund to Help with Smoky Mountains Fire Relief

Courtesy Webster Public RelationsDolly Parton’s never been one to forget where she’s from.  In response to the fires still burning in her native Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Dolly’s established a fund to help folks who have lost everything to the blazes.

Dubbed the My People Fund, the joint effort by The Dollywood Company and the Dollywood Foundation will donate $1,000 each month to families in Sevier County, TN, who lost their homes.

“I’ve always believed charity begins at home and my home is some place special,” Dolly says in a video message announcing the fund.  “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.”

Dolly promises to reveal additional information about the program Friday.

You can donate to the My People Fund by visiting DollywoodFoundation.org.

Fires in the Great Smoky Mountains this week burned hundreds of homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of people in Sevier County and the town of Gatlinburg.  Seven people so far are known to have died in the fires.

Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.