Central Piedmont Community College celebrates, honors, and remembers the life of Leon Levine, who died April 5, 2023, at age 85. 

At age 22, Levine started the first Family Dollar store on Central Avenue in Charlotte, and built the company on the value of customer service, expanding to thousands of stores and nationwide success. In 1980, Levine, along with his wife Sandra, turned his attention to philanthropic efforts through the Leon Levine Foundation.

Levine’s life and legacy in our Charlotte-Mecklenburg community was one of great philanthropy to education, healthcare, Jewish families, and children, among many other entities bearing their name. At Central Piedmont, a 2002 gift from the Levines was the largest the college had received to date, prompting Central Piedmont to rename a campus in their honor. 

Their generosity did not stop there, as the Levine Campus in Matthews continued to expand, student scholarships were endowed, and Central Campus named two more buildings in their honor: the Levine Information Technology building, and most recently, the Leon Levine Health Sciences Center. The Levine Health Sciences Center creates state-of-the-art learning environments with hospital simulations and virtual anatomy classrooms, and is the home base to Central Piedmont’s newest healthcare programs.

Levine’s legacy lives on, not just in the buildings, but in the lives forever changed by education, as students become healthcare professionals and leaders in our region. We honor Mr. Levine for the positive impact he made through the entire Charlotte community, and to all the students supported at Central Piedmont through his decades of generosity. 

• Nov. 2002: South Campus in Matthews renamed and dedicated as Levine Campus
• Sept. 2004: Levine II on the Levine Campus opened
• Nov. 2014: Levine Information Technology building dedicated at Central Campus
• Jan. 2019: Levine III on the Levine Campus opened
• Oct. 2021: Leon Levine Health Sciences building opened and dedicated at Central Campus