Guess Who Donated to the King Memorial?

[Playinghardball]

Source: The Root

On Aug. 28, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial makes its debut on the National Mall with a star-studded concert and dedication ceremony featuring President Barack Obama, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx. The 30-foot granite sculpture, enclosed by a wall etched with 14 of King's most notable quotes, is a project 15 years -- and $120 million -- in the making.

Actually, the job of fundraising continues, since the memorial is still $6 million short of its goal. Yet Harry Johnson, president and CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, says he's not worried.

"I'm very pleased with the amount of money we've raised to date, and with the many people who have donated to this memorial," Johnson told The Root. "There are always other good causes to donate to, and in these economic times it's a sacrifice to donate to anything at all. The first week we were ready to go public with our fundraising efforts, 9/11 occurred. A few years later, the tsunami occurred. After that, Hurricane Katrina happened. I came to understand that manmade and natural disasters are going to occur, and you just have to persevere."

Most of the memorial's major donations have come from dozens of corporations and organizations, including these:

General Motors: $10 million

Tommy Hilfiger: $6 million

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity: $3.5 million

NBA: $3 million

Walt Disney Co.: $2.7 million

Verizon: $2 million

General Electric: $1.2 million

FedEx: $1 million

NFL Players Association: $1 million

Viacom/BET/MTV: $1 million

Wal-Mart: $1 million

Morehouse College: $500,000

CBS: $500,000

Procter & Gamble: $431,200

American Federation of Teachers: $300,000

Lehman Brothers: $250,000

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority: $170,000

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority: $137,000

General Mills: $100,000

The Embassy of South Africa: $100,000

A handful of individual donors have also come through. Among these names are BET co-founder Sheila Johnson ($1 million), filmmaker George Lucas ($1 million), rock guitarist Carlos Santana and his ex-wife Deborah ($100,000), and Bill and Melinda Gates through their foundation ($3 million).

More at: http://www.theroot.com/blogs/samuel-l-jackson/guess-who-donated-king-memorial?GT1=38002

[Faygo Kid]

1. I must have missed it: Where's the million bucks from his great admirer, Glenn Beck?

*crickets*

[Jackpine Radical]

2. It's coming, folks. It just took a while to arrange transport for all the gold.