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FBI honors Dolly Parton for helping victims of Gatlinburg wildfires

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Country singer Dolly Parton has been honored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a distinguished community leader.

The FBI’s 2018 Director’s Community Leadership Award was presented to the Dollywood Foundation in Tennessee, following a nomination by the bureau’s Knoxville Division.

Parton, and the Dollywood Foundation, provided $9 million dollars to the victims of the Gatlinburg wildfires in 2016 through the “My People Fund.”

“The donations brought renewed hope to a community devastated by the worst natural disaster in Tennessee history,” the FBI said in a statement.

Parton was unable to attend the award ceremony at the FBI headquarters but did send a video message to express her gratitude.