Honestly, this doesn’t appear to be a billionaire donation. But this is how huge financial gifts should be revealed in the news media:

For the past few months, a petition has garnered hundreds of signatures in favor of updating the aging sprayground at Chickasaw Park.  

But thanks to an anonymous $5 million donation, the beloved park is getting so much more than that.  

The Olmsted Parks Conservancy announced on Nov. 15 to a cheering crowd of more than 100 the $5 million donation that will upgrade aging infrastructure and completely restore the historic park. The Olmsted Firm designed the century-old park in 1923, and it’s believed to be only park in the celebrated landscape architect’s portfolio specifically created for Black people.  

This is the second largest donation the conservancy has ever received, and the three-year project will be the largest full-scale park renovation in the organization’s history, said Mary Grissom, the president and CEO of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy. 

According to the announcement made at a gathering in the park, the donation came from someone in Louisville.

If it came from Louisville, we know that person isn’t a billionaire. There’s only one billionaire in the state, and that person lives in Lexington. Back in 2021, there were only three billionaires in the state: two in Lexington and one in Louisville.

What we do know, and what we appreciate, is that someone has made a huge donation to a worthy cause that will benefit people in a neglected part of the city and has declined to demand any credit for it.

There’s no ego massaging here. There’s no, “Hey, look at me! I’m a billionaire, and I gave a whole lot of money to a needy organization and now I’m going to get my name put on it so everyone can thank me for being a great human being, even though my donation doesn’t affect my quality of life in the least.”

What we should focus on is whom the donation will benefit. Like this video from six years ago reveals:

And here’s a brief history of Chickasaw Park, from the CJ:

Today, Chickasaw Park is most widely known throughout Louisville as a place where Louisville native Muhammad Ali once trained. Most longtime Chickasaw residents have memories of The Greatest running through the park, and some even spotted him with his Olympic gold medal on. …

Of the now 13,000 acres of parks that exist in Louisville, Black people only had access to 145 acres during segregation. Roughly half of that land belonged to Chickasaw Park. 

By the 1950s Chickasaw Park had water fountains, tennis courts, slides, swings and a wading pool. Those sought after amenities weren’t common in other Black parks, and so even though this piece of land was segregated, it was also treasured among the community. 

Thanks to this donation, a neglected part of Louisville’s park system will be improved and restored so the minority community can have a quality space to enjoy.

And we don’t have to genuflect to a billionaire to enjoy it.