Dolly Parton has donated $1m to research into a vaccine for coronavirus and launched a new online storytelling series for children in lockdown.
In a post on her Instagram account, she wrote: "My longtime friend Dr Naji Abumrad, who's been involved in research at Vanderbilt for many years, informed me that they were making some exciting advancements towards that research of the coronavirus for a cure. I am making a donation of $1 million to Vanderbilt towards that research and to encourage people that can afford it to make donations".
Abumrad, who works at the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation at Vanderbilt University hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, became friends with Parton in 2014 after she was involved in a car accident and was treated at the institute.
On Thursday, the country superstar also launched Goodnight With Dolly, a bedtime story series on YouTube for children in lockdown.
She has said she is starting the series with a reading of The Little Engine That Could, adding she hoped the series would be "a welcome distraction during a time of unrest, and inspire a love of reading and books".
