Jack and Cindy Strack recently donated $1 million to Merrillville-based Legacy Foundation.
With the latest gift, the philanthropists have donated $5 million to Legacy Foundation over the last year and a half.
Kelly Anoe, Legacy Foundation president and CEO, expressed her gratitude that the pair selected Legacy Foundation as a philanthropic partner.
“Organizations are restructuring the way they secure funding right now, so having additional private donors and philanthropic resources to support the organizations is really critical,” Anoe said in a press release. “Jack and Cindy are supporting nonprofits like the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, Operation Charlie Bravo, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana and TradeWinds.”
Anoe added that donations are critical to helping these organizations carry out their mission and deliver their services.
“It helps them serve more people and ultimately strengthens our communities and the quality of life for our residents,” Anoe said.
Born in Gary, and raised in Griffith, Jack Strack carried on his family legacy at Strack & Van Til from a young age.
“One day, when I was 12 years old, I was eating a Hostess cupcake, and my dad said, ‘If you're going to hang around in this store, you're going to go to work,’” Strack said.
Strack started working for the supermarket on Broad Street in Griffith, which had three checkout counters at the time. At 12 years of age, he was paid 35 cents an hour.
“From then on, I've always worked in grocery stores,” Strack said. “I grew up through them, started working at them after college and it provided a good life.”
In 2017, Strack & Van Til was sold to Indiana Grocery Group, which owned the company until the Iowa-based grocery chain Hy-Vee purchased it in 2024. Thanks to these sales, Jack and Cindy Strack found themselves with money to spare.
“We invested in the store when it was brought up out of bankruptcy,” Cindy Strack said. “We got a nice return on our investment when they sold again, and we don't need it; we need to help out the communities where we’ve lived.”
“We're giving back to this area because we have a good life,” Jack Strack said. “That life has been made possible by the people of Northwest Indiana, so we believe that we should give something back.”
