Nationwide Foundation Donates $1 Million to MLK Memorial Project

Washington, DC (BlackNews.com) - The Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. hosted an Atlanta 'Dream Dinner' at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta in support of the four-acre memorial soon to be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Memorial Foundation presented Dr. Christine King Farris, author and Dr. King's sister, and Isaac Newton Farris, Jr., Dr. King's nephew and President and CEO of the King Center in Atlanta, with a miniature replica of the Stone of Hope, the centerpiece of the Memorial.

"The King Family wholeheartedly supports the National Memorial and the artist who is sculpting a portion of it," said Isaac Newton Farris, Jr. "It is the first national memorial to a peaceful and non violent warrior on the National Mall. Generations to come need examples of confrontation and boldness. Dr. King was confrontational and it is appropriate that he be portrayed in that way."

The Memorial Foundation announced several major donations including a Nationwide Foundation donation of $1 million, a Delta Air Lines donation of $250,000, and a CVS Caremark donation of $250,000.

"Nationwide is pleased to support the construction of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial with a grant from the Nationwide Foundation," said Chad Jester, president of the Nationwide Foundation. "This monument will serve as an enduring reminder of Dr. King's important legacy for generations to come."

The Memorial Foundation also announced that Angela Fortson, the African-American owner of Southeastern Granite Company based in Elberton, GA, will serve as the granite broker to identify granite from domestic sources. Southeastern Granite also provided portions of the stone for The Jimmy Carter Presidential Center. Fortson will serve as a subcontractor to McKissack & McKissack / Turner Construction Company/ Gilford Corporation / Tompkins Builders, Inc. Joint Venture, the Memorial Foundation's African American female-led Design-Build team.

Event participants and attendees included: J. Alexander M. Douglas, President, Coca-Cola North America; Terrance Williams, Regional Vice President of Southern States for Nationwide Insurance; Louie Watson, Vice President for Nationwide Retirement Solutions; Richard Anderson, CEO, Delta Air Lines; Gordon Howard, Area VP, CVS Caremark; Lisa Borders, President, Atlanta City Council; Dr. Ozell Sutton, Former President, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; Darryl R. Matthews, President, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; and Harry E. Johnson, Sr., President and CEO, the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial , and Mike Woodson, Coach, Atlanta Hawks Project Foundation, Inc. Grammy award-winning R&B and gospel vocalist, writer and producer BeBe Winans performed and WSB-TV Action News anchor Monica Pearson served as Mistress of Ceremonies.

"I am proud that the Atlanta community came out in full force to support the building of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial," said Johnson. "Now is the time for all citizens to follow the lead of the City of Atlanta, the Nationwide Foundation, and all of our supporters by making a donation of any amount to the Memorial."

The Memorial Foundation has hosted Dream Dinners in Los Angeles, Houston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and San Francisco. A Dream Concert took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City last September.

The donations surrounding the Atlanta Dream Dinner raises the Memorial Foundation's fundraising total to $94.8 million. The following major donors have contributed to the Memorial: General Motors, Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation, NBA/WNBA, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Walt Disney Company Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, The Ford Motor Fund, Toyota, AARP, AFLAC, BP America, Inc., CIGNA, Credit Unions of the United States, DuPont, ExxonMobil Foundation, Fannie Mae Corporation, FedEx Corporation, GE, Ann and Joel Horowitz Family Foundation, Sheila C. Johnson-Newman, Lehman Brothers, George Lucas, MacFarlane Partners, The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, McDonald's Corporation, MetLife Foundation, National Association of Realtors (NAR), National Education Association (NEA), PepsiCo Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Pfizer Foundation, Prudential Financial, Inc., Shell Oil Company, State Farm Insurance, Verizon Foundation, Viacom, Wal-Mart and Morehouse College, among others.

About the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.
A Memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be built on the National Mall, situated adjacent to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and in a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. Congress passed Joint Resolutions in 1996 authorizing Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to establish a Memorial honoring Dr. King to be built in Washington, D.C. The ceremonial groundbreaking took place on November 13, 2006. McKissack & McKissack / Turner Construction Company/ Gilford Corporation / Tompkins Builders, Inc. Joint Venture will serve as the Design-Build Team. McKissack & McKissack is the oldest minority-owned architectural firm in the United States. For more information, please visit www.buildthedream.org

About Nationwide
Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the world. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. The Nationwide Foundation is an independent corporation funded by contributions from Nationwide companies.