Kirk Douglas has doubled his pledge for a Los Angeles charity, reports The Washington post.

In an act of generosity, Kirk Douglas has doubled the previous pledge of $5m to the Anne Douglas Center for Women at the Los Angeles Mission, which opened two decades ago on Valentine’s Day. He will now give $10m to the charity, in a move that surprised even his wife, who the charitable venture is named after. Los Angeles Mission President Herb Smith was surprised as well. “This wonderful legacy will make it possible to help individuals create their own legacy. It will open great opportunities to begin to solve one of the more intractable problems facing society. We are beyond grateful for the support the Douglas family has shown the Los Angeles Mission.” Smith went on to explain how the pair became so involved in such a charity. “The story is that Mr. and Mrs. Douglas were visiting the old Los Angeles Mission in the late 1980’s and she asked about homeless women,” said Herb Smith, President of the Los Angeles Mission. “There were some sheets hanging from a wire, and they pulled them back to show a couple of bunk beds. Mrs. Douglas looked at her husband and said ’that’s unacceptable, we have to do something about that.’”

In a touching moment, Kirk gave his wife an award for all the philanthropic work she has done. “Thank you for teaching me that caring is sharing,” he said. Mrs Douglas was very appreciative and thanked his “tremendous generosity” which she said, “will allow my vision of helping the homeless men and women of Los Angeles.”