She famously declared, "My dream was to make as many people happy as I could in this life," and true to her word, caring country music legend Dolly Parton has committed to doing exactly that.
© NBC"I just think people need to be better to each other," she says in this exclusive interview with HELLO! when we catch up with her at her HQ in the city she calls home, Nashville, Tennessee.
"I cannot get it into my head and through my heart, why people can't be nicer and better to one another. We're supposed to love one another, and love our neighbour as ourselves, but that seems to be such a hard thing to do. Yet it doesn't take that much time to be kind and to be nice."
© GettyFrom literacy and education programmes, to disaster relief and healthcare initiatives, Dolly has put her money where her mouth is and donated millions of dollars of her personal fortune to help good causes.
In 1988 she launched The Dollywood Foundation to reduce high school dropout rates in Tennessee - which subsequently declined by 29 per cent. Seven years later, she began a literacy initiative that has now gone global: the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
So far she has given away 250 million free books to children from birth to the age of five.
© NBC"They receive the books until they start school," she says. "I have little kids coming up to me saying ‘Thank you for the books; can we get some more?' The ones that are getting them still, thank me for them, and that just melts my heart."
Impassioned by the incentive she began, Dolly continues, "I remember everyone who did something nice for me when I was little. So, to think, especially with little kids when they're in their most impressionable years, that I've done something they remember, makes me feel good that I've been able to do good."
© GettyGenerations of youngsters affectionately refer to Dolly as ‘The Book Lady,' a title she embraces with pride. And as she tells HELLO!, it was her father, Robert Lee, who inspired her to create her famous library.
"My dad couldn't read or write. That bothered him and it troubled me that he was troubled by it. That's where I got the idea to start the Imagination Library in our little home county and then it grew and grew and now it's all over the world.
© Instagram"It's my opinion that if you've been blessed and you're in a position to help and you see that there's a need, you should do it," she tells us "Otherwise, you just feel selfish, you just take and take and take, and it's all about me.
"It makes me feel good to be able to give back and to share and to be able to do stuff," she continues. "I don't understand why so many people who make so much money don't spread that wealth around. So, if I see things that can be done, it makes me feel good that I've helped and I've been blessed enough to be in a position to help."
© GettyOn a lighter note, as Thanksgiving, Christmas and her birthday in January draw near, Dolly will be spreading good cheer in another way, too.
A few years ago, she celebrated her special day, not with presents for herself, but with a plea for others to carry out a good deed in "a call for kindness."
And as she raises her glass in a toast with family and friends, it will be with a bottle of rose or prosecco from her first Dolly Wines collection.
© InstagramThe attractive bottles, which are decorated with her butterfly symbol, are described as reflecting her "joyful essence and ability to spread warmth wherever she goes".
"For years people were telling me I should have my own wine," she smiles. "I guess my music has led me to a place where I could. I'm very proud and excited about it. And we're gonna need a lot of different kinds of wines with the holidays coming up!"
To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
