(BLACK PR WIRE) – Washington, D.C. (March 3, 2011) – The Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation’s leadership today announced a $1 million gift from the memorial’s design build joint venture team, MTTG. MTTG is a diverse design, construction management, and building team comprised of professionals from McKissack & McKissack, Turner Construction, Tompkins Builders, and Gilford Corporation. The gift will support the memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. honoring Dr. King.

“The joint venture design build executive team is honored to be an integral part of this national memorial project in honor of a man who has made such an impact on all of our lives. We applaud the Foundation for their perseverance and dedication in making this important contribution to our nation. We feel MTTG, a joint venture of four companies, working together and utilizing their talents, truly reflects the very essence of Dr. King’s teachings of economic and social equality,” said Deryl McKissack, president and CEO of McKissack & McKissack. “Our $1 million donation and the development of the Dream Design Build Scholarship will continue to keep all of us connected and mindful of Dr. King’s legacy now and forever. We congratulate the Foundation and look forward to the successful completion of the memorial project.”

To promote Dr. King’s messages of hope, democracy, justice, and love, MTTG Joint Venture has created the MTTG DREAM Design Build Scholarship program for high school seniors. In its inaugural year, MTTG will award up to ten $5,000 scholarships to minority high school seniors from the Washington metropolitan area who are pursuing a post-secondary education in architecture, engineering, or construction management fields or attending a trade school following graduation. With the support of subcontractors, MTTG is proud to have the opportunity to contribute to the education of the next generation of architects, engineers, and builders. For more information about the MTTG DREAM Design Build Scholarship or to submit an application, please visit www.mttgmlk.com. Scholarship applications will be accepted until March 15.

“We are extremely humbled by MTTG Joint Venture’s million dollar gift, which moves us one step closer to our $120 million fundraising goal. MTTG has been a wonderful partner for the duration of this project, and I am honored to work by their side to create the first memorial on the National Mall celebrating a man of hope, a man of peace, and a man of color,” said Harry E. Johnson, Sr., president and CEO of the Memorial Foundation. “I applaud the MTTG DREAM Design Build Scholarship program and strongly encourage students interested in pursuing higher education in fields related to construction, engineering, and design across the Washington metropolitan region to apply.”

The Memorial Foundation has raised $111 million of the $120 million needed to build the memorial. MTTG joins the following major donors to the memorial: General Motors, Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, NBA/WNBA, The Walt Disney Company Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, The Ford Motor Fund, MetLife Foundation, Toyota, Verizon Foundation, Delta Air Lines and Delta Air Lines Foundation, Credit Unions of the United States, GE, AFSCME, AARP, AFLAC, Best Buy, The Boeing Company, BP America, Inc., CIGNA, Cummins, DirectTV, DuPont, Exelon Foundation, ExxonMobil Foundation, Fannie Mae Corporation, FedEx Corporation, Ann and Joel Horowitz Family Foundation, Sheila C. Johnson-Newman, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, George Lucas, MacFarlane Partners, The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, McDonald’s Corporation, National Association of Realtors (NAR), National Education Association (NEA), Nationwide Foundation, NFL Players Association, PepsiCo Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Pfizer Foundation, Prudential Financial, Inc., Shell Oil Company, State Farm Insurance, The Travelers Companies, Inc., UnitedHealth Group, Viacom, BET, MTV, Wal-Mart and Morehouse College, among others.

To make a donation the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, please call 1-888-4-THE-DREAM or visit www.buildthedream.org.

About the Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.

A Memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be built on the National Mall, situated adjacent to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and in a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. Congress passed Joint Resolutions in 1996 authorizing Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to establish a Memorial honoring Dr. King to be built in Washington, D.C. The ceremonial groundbreaking took place on November 13, 2006, and the Memorial will be completed in 2011. McKissack & McKissack/Turner Construction Company/Tompkins Builders, Inc./Gilford Corporation Joint Venture serves as the Design-Build Team. McKissack & McKissack is the oldest minority-owned architectural firm in the United States. For more information or to make a donation, please visit www.buildthedream.org.