$5 Million Gift, No Thank You Note Necessary

By Ali Trachta in News on Jul 1, 2008 5:15PM

A dose of warm 'n' fuzzy for today: $5 million dollars has been given to the Salvation Army to put towards building a community center in Chicago's West Pullman neighborhood. Anonymously.

The $5 million is just a nudge in the right direction, considering the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center will cost a total of $160 million to build. Most of the rest of the money for the center comes from a $1.5 billion endowment Joan Kroc left the organization upon her death in 2003. In life, the wife of the McDonald's founder was a major supporter of the Salvation Army, donating $90 million in 1998. Other Kroc Centers are already in existence elsewhere in the country, and a total of 30 more are in plans to be built.

Though the anonymous donor is seeking no public credit, their identity is known to the Salvation Army, who acknowledges they are a dedicated supporter of the organization. We think anyone who would drop that kind of cash without even looking for recognition wins the awesome award for the day. [STS]