In the spring of 1952, J.M. McDonald established the J.M. McDonald Foundation, Inc. This is a trust whose income is to be used as donations to deserving charities.
Primary interests of the Foundation are education, humanities, health, and a variety of social and human services.
As of the year 2005, 53 years after its inception, the J.M. McDonald Foundation, Inc. has grown many times over and is active in awarding grants primarily in upstate New York. Thanks to the foresight of J.M. McDonald, Sr., the Foundation will continue the charitable example he modeled years ago.