NEWPORT, R.I. (NewsNation Now) — Many people give back in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In Rhode Island, a woman donated her entire house to help fund a center dedicated to the civil rights leader’s legacy.
Last November, The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center learned about an unusual donation Jane Mead Timken planned to provide.
“Jane told us she wanted to give us her house,” said Heather Hole Strout, executive director of the center.
While the center regularly brings in food donations, this house is the largest charitable contribution to the organization in its 100-year history.
The house’s deed was transferred to the center and put on the market soon after the call. It sold for $1.7 million five days later with the money going into an endowment.
“She really is a person who only wanted us to tell this story, not because she wants a pat on the back, or accolades from people, but because she wants to inspire others to do similar things,” Strout said of Mead Timken.
