Joseph S. Pete
Former Strack & Van Til owners Jack and Cindy Strack personally donated $1 million to the Legacy Foundation to give back to Northwest Indiana after selling the grocery chain to Hy-Vee earlier this year.
Jack Strack has been retired from the Highland-based supermarket chain, which has more than 20 stores around the Region, for more than 25 years. But he and his wife, who now live mainly in Florida but maintain a residence in Schererville, invested in helping their son Jeff Strack buy back Strack & Van Til in 2017 after its then-parent company, Joliet-based Central Grocers, went bankrupt.
They reaped a windfall from the sale of Northwest Indiana's largest local grocery chain to Iowa-based Hy-Vee, a $12-billion-a-year grocer with 280 stores across the Midwest and South.
"Frankly, I've had to look at this a few times," he said while scrutinizing paperwork. "I have never given a million dollars away where I didn't receive something like a house or something of that magnitude."
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Strack wanted to give back to the community with the proceeds of the sale, and his son Jeff Strack recommended the Legacy Foundation.
"He suggested a donor-advised fund, because that's what he and (his wife) Shawn had done. It gives you some right to where the money goes over time," he said.
The Stracks plan to support charities they've supported over the years, including the Boys and Girls Clubs, the Boy Scouts and the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana.
"I think it's a great story about commitment to Northwest Indiana and the region where Stracks grocery stores are located," Legacy Foundation CEO Kelly Anoe said.
Strack, whose father Ernie Strack founded the first Strack & Van Til with Nick Van Til at Cline Avenue and 45th Street in Highland in 1959, was in the food business his whole life. He was born in Lake County, grew up in Griffith, went to Griffith schools and lived in Griffith.
"During my sixth grade year, I was going down to the grocery store after school from Franklin Elementary," he said. "The only Strack store at the time was on Broad Street with three checkout lanes. I was hanging around when I was 12 years old. My father said if I was hanging around I was going to work. So I started bagging potatoes when I was 12 years old. I worked in the grocery business ever since."
The Strack and Van Til families originally sold the company to the grocery distributor Central Grocers, and then beat out Jewel-Osco in an auction to buy it back. Looking to expand its footprint across the Midwest, Hy-Vee approached them about a sale, which took place in May.
"I've been rewarded with the opportunity to sell it back and give back to Lake County, Indiana," Strack said. "We're able to help people in the county that helped us to be where we are. It's time we gave something back to the county and we'll give back to the Legacy Foundation. I got a fair amount of money from the sale of the stores because I was an investor. Our life was a good life, but I want to share. It's been possible because of the shopping of people in Lake County and Porter County for us to have a good life and we want to give back to the community."
The Stracks also gave directly to charities before, but opted to go through the Legacy Foundation this time on the advice of their son and Centier Bank.
"It will be used for different organizations of our choosing. We will choose them annually," Strack said. "We've always supported a lot of different charities. We supported people in the communities, school organizations and a lot of different things."
They, for instance, plan to support the Strack Family Scholarship Fund at Indiana University Northwest.
"There's a commitment to use the money to make a difference locally," Anoe said.
The money will be spent locally in Lake and Porter counties.
"That was always one of Ernie Strack's main things, giving back to the community," Cindy Strack said. "When Strack & Van Til first started, he was always adamant the community get some of his rewards. He started being charitable way back. It's in the company culture."
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