Rafat and Zoreen Ansari, medical doctors who were born in Pakistan, have spent the last four decades working and raising their three children in a suburb of South Bend, Ind., where they also have earned a reputation as civic leaders.
By their estimation, they have given at least $1 million and thousands of hours of their time to nonprofits focused on children with autism, which afflicts their youngest child, Sonya.
But a year and a half ago the couple and their children, all Muslim, began working on a larger gift in terms of money, impact and risk: Their goal was to fund something that would foster better understanding of religion, including Islam, Judaism and Christianity, with the belief that all religions should be treated with equal respect.