The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus in Farmington Hills, Mich., has been given a $15 million donation that will go towards an endowment fund to support the museum for years to come.
The donation was from the Zekelman family and Zekelman Industries, it was announced on Tuesday. The Holocaust Memorial Center said the amount will go towards its $100 million comprehensive campaign to establish a permanent endowment fund for the museum.
The gift is the largest single charitable donation in the center’s history.
“This major donation will enable us to expand the important work we do to teach the lessons of the Holocaust and confront anti-Semitism and hatred,” said Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld, CEO of the Holocaust Memorial Center.
Barry Zekelman, chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, noted that “with anti-Semitism and hate crimes on the rise, we feel a sense of urgency to help organizations, like the Holocaust Memorial Center, that are passionately working to combat it.”
The Zekelman family and Zekelman Industries are longtime supporters of the Holocaust Memorial Center. A $10 million gift from them in 2006 helped reduce the center’s debts after it built its new campus in Farmington Hills, reported The Detroit News.
The 55,000-square-foot museum, with an exterior that resembles concentration-camp prison stripes, and its library archive serve more than 100,000 visitors a year.
