Dolly Parton Awarded $100 Million Courage and Civility Award by Jeff Bezos
Congratulations are once again in order for Dolly Parton! The country legend has been named the most recent recipient of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Courage and Civility Award.
Bezos' longtime partner, Lauren Sanchez, posted a clip of the award ceremony to her Instagram account. In the video, she explains that the Bezos Courage and Civility Award "recognizes leaders who aim high, find solutions, and who always do it with civility." Award recipients also earn a cool $100 million prize, which winners are asked to "direct to the charities that they see fit."
Before formally presenting Parton with the honor, Bezos cited the beloved 76-year-old's long-running work to benefit causes like children's welfare and extensive literacy campaigns.
Parton then hopped on stage to deliver her remarks, making it clear that helping people should be fundamental, and if someone has the means to do so, they need to. While there clearly weren't any doubts from Sanchez or Bezos, Parton reassured the room that she would take the responsibility of the award very seriously.
"I will do my best to do good things with this money," Parton said while looking at the couple before offering her thanks to Bezos. You can see the full clip below.
Over the years, Parton has supported countless charities, including the United Way, the Save the Music Foundation and the Make-a-Wish program.
She has also dedicated money, time and support toward animal rights. In 2003, Parton received the Partnership Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in connection with Dollywood's American Eagle Foundation bald eagle sanctuary.
During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Parton donated $1 million to help fund research into a cure for the virus at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.