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Detroit entrepreneur William Pickard will donate $2 million to support Detroit’s museums and colleges to further education initiatives, Crain’s Detroit reported. Pickard who founded GAA Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management— is making big moves to help the city’s cultural institutions.

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According to Crain’s Detroit the $2 million donations is being distributed as part of Pickard’s “Thank You, Detroit” campaign. A few of the institutions that will receive donations are the Motown Museum, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and the Wayne County Community College District. The museums will each receive $1 million in donations and the college district will be awarded $100,000.

William Pickard journey to success has been nothing less than astonishing. In the begging of his career, Pickard and his friends became the first Black people to own a McDonald’s franchise. Pickard also is CEO at both Vitec LLC and Bearwood Management Co. Not to mention he is the co-owner of Real Times Media and managing partner of the MGM Grand Detroit. All through his career, Pickard has used his enormous success to give back.

Recently there have been several efforts to preserve and grow various cultural institutions in Detroit. Earlier this year Motown Museum received a $500,000 donation from the Hudson-Webber Foundation for expansion.

Robin Terry, chairwoman and CEO of the Motown Museum said, “Every time we get another one of these significant lead gifts in the campaign, not only does it encourage us as a team, but also sends a message to the rest of the funding community about this project, the importance of this development and also makes clear that this is real.”

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