Muhammad Ali's Generosity Resonates In Chicago Today

(CBS) – Here in Chicago, longtime friends and admirers of Muhammad Ali are revealing little known secrets about the generosity of the boxing legend.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports.

Publisher Hermene Hartman honored Muhammad Ali in 2005 at the N'Digo Foundation Gala. On Friday, she was sharing private photos, and for the first time, little-known stories.

"Ali was probably the biggest charitable donator in the world," Hartman says.

The boxing giant personally funded scholarships to send four black boys to college, she says.

Former Park District Supt. Ed Kelly has kept his story of Ali's generosity a secret for 44 years. But now he points to Bessemer Park and the boxing program that exists today because of Ali's generous contribution in 1972.

According to Kelly, Ali donated a truckload of speed bags, heavy bags and boxing gloves to this park and many others.

Omar Muhammad runs the mosque on 47th and Woodlawn, which was founded in 1983 by Ali and Muhammad's father,  Jabir Herbert Muhammad,  Ali's longtime business manager.

Today, hundreds of Muslims worship here every Friday, and it serves at one of Ali's many lasting legacies.