Kirk and Anne Douglas give $20 million to Hollywood non-profit

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Film legend Kirk Douglas and his wife, Anne, will donate $20 million to the Motion Picture and Television Fund's capital campaign, the Hollywood non-profit said Monday.

The gift will come from the Douglas Foundation, and part of the donation will be used to expand Harry's Haven, the MPTF's Alzheimer's unit, and to sustain dementia care at the organization's Woodland Hills campus.

That unit, along with the non-profit's hospital and long-term care facilities were once pegged to be closed until a grassroots campaign involving patients and their families created a public relations firestorm that persuaded the MPTF's leadership to drop its original plan and keep those facilities open.

In January, the MPTF bowed to pressure and announced it would begin accepting new residents for the first time since it announced plans to close the facility in 2009.

'When Anne and I were deciding how much to give to MPTF this year, we looked again at the wide range of services the Fund provides,' Kirk Douglas said in a statement. 'Then we doubled our pledge!'

'You know, I believe that giving to others is selfish, because the giver gets so much pleasure from it,' he added. 'I hope Anne and I inspire many more selfish acts of this kind, especially from the younger generation of entertainment professionals.'

The Douglas Foundation gift is the latest high-profile contribution to the MPTF's $350 million, three-year fundraising drive.

Two weeks ago, News Corp. announced it will donate $20 million to the charity and last month media mogul Barry Diller donated $30 million to the campaign. Diller, a billionaire and the former chairman of Fox and Paramount Pictures, currently heads the internet company, IAC/InterActiveCorp.

Among the major figures in the entertainment industry who have contributed to MPTF's capital campaign are construction and entertainment magnate Steve Bing, 'Hangover' director Todd Phillips, producer Joe Roth, George Clooney, media and music entrepreneur David Geffen and Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg.

In addition to providing long-term care, the MPTF offers a range of charitable programs, such as financial assistance for rent, mortgage, food and extraordinary healthcare crises to counseling and health care support for uninsured members of the entertainment community.



This news article is brought to you by PARENTING KIDS - where latest news are our top priority.