Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife donates millions to 6 nonprofit organizations in South Florida
Six South Florida nonprofit organizations will receive millions of dollars from philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott to continue crucial work in the community for children, adults and seniors.
The gifts are part of the $4.15 billion Scott has donated to 384 organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico over the last four months. Scott, former wife of Amazon founder and Miami-raised Jeff Bezos, made the announcement late last week.
The organizations in South Florida are: Easterseals South Florida, Meals on Wheels South Florida, YWCA South Florida, United Way Palm Beach, United Way of Miami-Dade and United Way of Broward.
Easterseals South Florida, an organization that provides services, education, and outreach to people with disabilities, said it will receive a $6 million “unrestricted transformational gift.”
“When a gift such as the one from Ms. Scott comes at the end of our most challenging year in memory, it takes a moment to really sink in,” said Easterseals South Florida President and CEO Loreen Chant in a news release. “Knowing how much good the agency does and that so much more is now possible, is both inspiring and humbling.”
In a blog post on Medium, Scott called the COVID pandemic a “wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling.”
“Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color, and for people living in poverty,” she wrote.
A team of advisers looked at more than 6,000 nonprofits and whittled it down to the 384.
“Because our research is data-driven and rigorous, our giving process can be human and soft,” Scott wrote. “Not only are non-profits chronically underfunded, they are also chronically diverted from their work by fundraising, and by burdensome reporting requirements that donors often place on them. These 384 carefully selected teams have dedicated their lives to helping others, working and volunteering and serving real people face-to-face at bedsides and tables, in prisons and courtrooms and classrooms, on streets and hospital wards and hotlines and frontlines of all types and sizes, day after day after day.”
Eric J. Vainder, chairman of Easterseals South Florida board of directors and senior managing director of Northern Trust, said in the news release that the organization has faced “programmatic and financial challenges” because of the pandemic and called the gift “energizing.”
“Never has our work felt more meaningful,” he said. “Having new, unrestricted resources to invest in growing our impact will directly benefit families and people living with disabilities in our South Florida community.”
For United Way of Broward County, the gift — although the exact amount has not yet been released — is being considered the largest in the organization’s history.
“We are beyond grateful for this most generous investment in our work and in our community,” Kathleen Cannon, president/CEO of United Way of Broward County said in a news release. “Her donation will amplify our existing work and we will strive to make Ms. Scott extremely proud of how we utilize her gift to create and sustain long-standing change.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 7:34 PM.
