Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood could have honored Dolly Parton with a song.

They could have hung her photograph inside their Nashville honky-tonk, hosted a tribute performance or named a cocktail after her.

Instead, they decided to give away an entire day’s income.

On Sept. 25, Brooks and Yearwood’s Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk on Broadway in downtown Nashville will become the center of a new annual tradition called “Dolly Day.”

The date itself is a deliberate tribute.

Written the American way, Sept. 25 becomes 9/25 — a playful reference to Dolly’s famous hit “9 to 5.”

But the clever date is not the most important part.

Brooks and Yearwood have announced that the bar will donate its entire income from that day to children’s literacy, carrying forward one of the causes Dolly cared about most deeply.

Yearwood explained the promise in unusually concrete terms.

“Whatever the cash register says at the end of the day is going to Dolly’s passion,” she said. “This is 100% about Dolly and her love for children’s literacy.”

And they do not intend for Sept. 25, 2026, to be a one-time memorial.

Friends in Low Places plans to make Dolly Day an annual event.

They Chose 9/25 for a Reason

The date gives the tribute an unmistakably Dolly sense of humor.

“9 to 5” was already one of the defining songs of Parton’s career long before it became a convenient calendar reference.

Dolly wrote and performed the title song for the 1980 comedy in which she starred alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

The song became a No. 1 hit and a working-class anthem about the frustrations of spending the day making someone else richer.

Now 9/25 is being turned into something completely different.

Instead of earning money for the business owners, one day at Friends in Low Places will be used to help children learn to read.

That reversal feels especially appropriate for Dolly.

She became enormously wealthy through entertainment, but some of the work she was proudest of involved finding ways to redirect that success toward other people.

The Money Will Support the Cause Closest to Dolly’s Heart

The official announcement says the Sept. 25 income will go toward children’s literacy and continuing the spirit of Dolly’s Imagination Library.

Dolly founded the Imagination Library in 1995.

The program began in her home county in East Tennessee with a remarkably simple idea: children should receive books in the mail regardless of how much money their families had.

Over time, the program expanded far beyond Tennessee and eventually outside the United States.

Children enrolled from birth through age five receive age-appropriate books delivered directly to their homes.

By 2026, the Imagination Library had distributed more than 300 million free books worldwide.

For Dolly, however, the project was never simply another charitable initiative attached to a celebrity name.

It was personal.

Dolly’s Father Inspired the Imagination Library

Dolly often explained that her father, Robert Lee Parton, was one of the smartest people she knew.

But he had never learned to read and write.

His lack of literacy affected how Dolly thought about education, opportunity and the barriers people can face even when they are intelligent and hardworking.

The Imagination Library became partly a tribute to him.

Dolly has said that her father was especially proud of the program, even referring to it as her “Imagination Library” work with a sense of pride that meant a great deal to her.

That family connection helps explain why Brooks and Yearwood chose literacy rather than simply donating to a general memorial fund.

They were not selecting a random charity associated with Dolly.

They were choosing something she had spent decades building.

Dolly’s Family Had Already Asked Fans to Think About Books Instead of Flowers

After Dolly’s death on Aug. 25 at age 80, her family made a request that fits closely with Brooks and Yearwood’s plan.

Rather than spending money on flowers, people wishing to honor Dolly were encouraged to support the Imagination Library.

That request turned the question of remembrance into something practical.

Flowers eventually disappear.

A book can be read by a child over and over.

It can become part of a bedtime routine.

It can help a parent and child spend time together.

It can help a young reader arrive at school already familiar with books.

Brooks and Yearwood are essentially applying that same philosophy to a Nashville business.

Instead of simply decorating the bar in Dolly’s memory, they are converting one day of business into support for the cause she loved.

“Whatever the Cash Register Says”

Yearwood’s wording is what makes the pledge stand out.

The official announcement does not merely say that a percentage of sales will be donated.

It says Friends in Low Places will donate its “entire income for the day” to children’s literacy.

And Yearwood made the concept even easier to understand:

“Whatever the cash register says at the end of the day” will go toward Dolly’s passion.

That creates an interesting incentive for fans.

The busier the bar becomes on Dolly Day, the larger the amount directed toward literacy.

Buying food or drinks on Sept. 25 is therefore designed to serve a second purpose.

People can celebrate Dolly while simultaneously increasing the size of the donation.

Brooks’ Tribute Focused on How Dolly Lived

Brooks framed the idea in terms of Dolly’s larger legacy.

“Dolly may be the perfect example of if you spend your whole life loving, you WILL live forever,” he said in announcing the event.

That sentiment captures why Dolly’s charitable work has become such a major part of the response to her death.

Her songs are still being played.

Her movies are being watched again.

Her performances are resurfacing.

But many of the tributes appearing across the country are also focusing on what she built outside entertainment.

The Imagination Library is perhaps the clearest example because it can continue operating long after Dolly herself is gone.

Every new book mailed to a child becomes another small continuation of something she started more than 30 years ago.

Friends in Low Places Is an Appropriate Place for the Tribute

The location also carries obvious country-music symbolism.

Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk sits at 411 Broadway in downtown Nashville, in the heart of the city most closely associated with modern country music.

Brooks named the venue after one of his own signature songs.

Now, for one day each year, the bar will shift the focus toward another country legend.

The concept ties together three things central to Dolly’s life:

Nashville.

Music.

And giving back.

Dolly Day Is Supposed to Continue Every Year

Perhaps the most significant detail is that Brooks and Yearwood are planning beyond the immediate period of mourning.

The first Dolly Day will happen on Sept. 25, 2026.

But according to the announcement, the couple intends to make it an annual tradition at Friends in Low Places.

That means the tribute is designed to survive after the flood of memorial headlines fades.

Next year, 9/25 can happen again.

Then the year after that.

And each time, the strange little coincidence in the calendar will lead back to the same song.

9/25.

“9 to 5.”

Dolly.

What Are Garth and Trisha Actually Giving Up?

For one full day, they are giving up the income their Nashville bar would ordinarily keep.

Whatever Friends in Low Places takes in on Sept. 25 is intended instead to support children’s literacy in Dolly Parton’s memory.

It is a financial tribute, but it is also a very specific one.

Dolly spent decades using her success to put books into children’s hands.

Brooks and Yearwood are taking one day of their own business and pointing the money in the same direction.

And if their plan works as intended, Dolly Day will not end when Sept. 25, 2026, is over.

Every 9/25, the cash register will start ringing again.

And for that day, the money will belong to Dolly’s passion.