Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce made a major charitable push before their New York City wedding, and one of the biggest recipients was Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
According to reports, the couple donated a combined $26 million to 20 local and national charities. That total included $2 million for Parton’s longtime book gifting program, which mails free books to children every month regardless of family income. Since Parton launched the initiative in 1995, it has helped millions of children.
Parton responded with a heartfelt video posted to Instagram, speaking directly to the couple after hearing about the gift. “Taylor and Travis, it’s Dolly, and I was just told that you two were making a donation of $2 million to my Imagination Library,” Parton said. “I’m blown away and overjoyed with that gratitude.”
She has long explained why the program matters to her. In an earlier interview with CBS, Parton said each child gets a book with their own name on it.
“They get this book once a month in the mailbox with their little name on it, not in the care of daddy or mommy,” Parton said. “It’s their little name on that book.
So that’s special to them.”
The Imagination Library began in 1995 and reached its first one million mailed books in less than 10 years. It continues to send free books to children in communities across the country.
Kelce and Swift’s giving also stretched to other organizations, including Food Bank For NYC and City Harvest. Their donations came during a year already marked by steep wedding expenses. CNN reported, “One luxury wedding planner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the privacy expectations of her clientele, estimated a luxury wedding at the Garden could cost from $15 million to $20 million.”
Even with those costs in play, the couple still made charity a clear priority, adding another large-scale act of giving to an already busy year.
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