Kellogg Foundation Adds $40-Million to Detroit Rescue Pot

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation on Tuesday committed $40-million to a philanthropic fund to help resolve Detroit’s bankruptcy, joining nine other national and local foundations in the unprecedented municipal rescue effort, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News report.

The Battle Creek, Mich.-based foundation’s pledge is the third-largest to the now-$370-million fund aimed at shrinking the city’s multibillion-dollar pension liability and shielding masterpieces at the Detroit Institute of Arts from possible sale to satisfy creditors. The Ford and Kresge foundations have promised $125-million and $100-million, respectively.

With a proposed $350-million from the state, there is now at least $720-million potentially available to help facilitate a so-called grand bargain to settle the country’s biggest municipal bankruptcy.

Read Chronicle of Philanthropy opinion columns on why major foundations have stepped into the Detroit bankruptcy case and why they may come to regret it.