Nashville’s first Dolly Day turned a date chosen for “9 to 5” into a citywide giving occasion. Give Like Dolly – Middle Tennessee, the three-day campaign that began on Sept. 25, raised $259,380.40 through nearly 250 gifts, according to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s current results report. The campaign’s reported proceeds support 20 local nonprofits and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Middle Tennessee, connecting the celebration with continuing work in literacy, the arts, health and practical community support.
The date was chosen for its familiar numbers: Sept. 25, or 9/25, nods to Parton’s song and film “9 to 5.” Nashville marked the day in several ways. WSMV reported that Broadway was filled with pink, and live bands across the city played “9 to 5” at 5 p.m. More than 150 local businesses held special events and fundraisers for charities. At the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the afternoon offered activities including butterfly coloring and a photo booth before an evening screening of the film in the CMA Theater.
The Give Like Dolly campaign extended that public celebration across three days, through Sept. 27. The Community Foundation says people could give through five areas: helping a child succeed, helping someone heal, helping a neighbor in need, helping someone find their song, or supporting the Imagination Library directly. The first four areas each connected donors with five Middle Tennessee nonprofits, with gifts in each area shared equally among those organizations.
That structure let a single gift reach several organizations working on related needs. The child-success group includes Blind Early Services Tennessee, Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee, McNeilly Center for Children, Nashville Freedom School Partnership and Sankofa Achievement Center. Their work ranges from early care and education to reading, financial skills and creative opportunities for young people. The music and arts group includes 4.0 Movement Studios, Girls Write Nashville, Nashville Children’s Theatre, the Quest Center for Art & Community Development and Words & Music at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
The other two areas linked health and recovery with everyday stability. Participating organizations include Dickson Community Clinic, Friendship House, the Heimerdinger Foundation, the Magnolia Foundation and Nashville CARES. The neighbor-in-need group includes the American Red Cross of Tennessee River, Dismas House, Ella’s House, Pawster Nashville and Upper Cumberland Habitat for Humanity. The foundation says more than 550 organizations applied to participate; five nonprofits were selected by lottery for each of the four areas after an eligibility review.
The fifth giving area went directly to the Imagination Library of Middle Tennessee. The program mails one age-appropriate book each month to enrolled children from birth through age five, at no cost to their families. That part of the campaign connects a short citywide observance to a recurring routine at home: a new book arriving for a young reader each month. The foundation describes the local program as a partnership among the Dollywood Foundation, Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation and United Way of Greater Nashville.
Some businesses and institutions added their own contributions to the day. WSMV reported that Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk would donate all of its Sept. 25 proceeds to the Imagination Library and separately collected children’s books. Vanderbilt University also announced a Dolly Day gift to United Way of Greater Nashville that would support 925 children participating in the Middle Tennessee program. The university said the gift was equivalent to one month of books for every enrolled child in Davidson County; its announcement did not say whether the contribution was included in the Community Foundation’s campaign total, so the figures should not be added together.
For people who came downtown, the day also offered a chance to take part without joining a fundraiser. WSMV quoted visitors who said they do not usually go to Broadway but came to celebrate, and reported that the museum held activities throughout the afternoon. The local station said the official festivities ended with fireworks downtown at 9:25 p.m.; leaders told it they hoped to make Dolly Day an annual event.
The foundation’s total describes Give Like Dolly – Middle Tennessee, not every donation or charitable activity that took place across Nashville. That distinction matters because the citywide celebration involved many separate businesses, organizations and neighborhood events. The reported campaign result gives one clear measure of what happened: nearly 250 gifts directed through a shared effort to local nonprofits and a children’s book program.
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