Kirk Douglas Celebrates His 99th Birthday Memorably By Donating $15 Million To MPTF Alzheimer’s Care Center
Kirk Douglas, the renowned yesteryear actor, who celebrated his 99th birthday on Wednesday made his life more meaningful by donating a huge sum of money towards a care center.
Kirk Douglas celebrated his 99thbirthday with his sons Michael, Peter and Joel, wife Anne and daughter-in-law Catherine Zeta-Jones at his house in Beverly Hills. Douglas made the wonderful occasion memorable by donating $15 million to the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) campus in Woodland Hills, according to ABC.
The MPTF foundation is said to have proposed to build a two story facility at a cost of $35 million to serve Alzheimer's patients. The facility that is to be named after the actor as Kirk Douglas Care Pavilion is aimed at serving more than 80 people from Hollywood industry that are suffering from the debilitating disease. The facility would reportedly come into use in late 2016.
"It is in keeping with Kirk's philosophy of giving back to the entertainment community that he is the one giving us the gift on his birthday instead of us lavishing one on him," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman of the MPTF Foundation, reported Deadline.
Katzenberg also added that Kirk and his wife Anne Douglas have generously donated over $40 million to MPTF Foundation by far. He also noted that the duo donated a huge sum back in 1992 to build Harry's Haven, the MPTF's Alzheimer's facility named after Kirk Douglas' Father. Harry's Haven would reportedly occupy the first floor of the facility that is to be built soon.
"When Jeffrey Katzenberg explained the urgency of enlarging the current facility to accommodate more patients, we had to say yes. Jeffrey knows it is our philosophy to provide funding where it is needed most. The Kirk Douglas Care Pavilion is going to help a lot of families in our community," Douglas said in a statement, according to Deadline.
