SAN DIEGO — Four charitable organizations in San Diego County got a big financial boost this week thanks to philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. Scott has donated over $4 billion to groups throughout the country in the last few months.
It’s the kind of gift that you just can’t imagine getting, but these organizations found themselves on the list to receive millions of dollars from one of the wealthiest philanthropists in the world.
“About a month and a half ago, [we] got an email asking for a phone conversation and was let known that we were going to receive $10 million!” said Toni Giffin, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries of San Diego.
Goodwill Industries of San Diego said the donation it received from Mackenzie Scott couldn’t have come at better time. Like a lot of charities and businesses, they were hit hard in 2020 because of the pandemic and had to lay off employees. Now, things are definitely looking up.
“What a tremendous gift this is to our country. It’s not just San Diego County that she’s helping, but all across the country and how grateful I am. She’s going to help the most vulnerable populations in San Diego County,” Giffin said.
Scott is the ex-wife of Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos. She helped build the company, and after divorcing Bezos last year, Forbes said she was worth about $60 billion. Scott publicly wrote about helping people who really need it right now, like the seniors served by Meals on Wheels San Diego.
“Only two percent of foundations in the country invest in or support older adult programs, so she’s one of the few. It shows her wisdom and her insight because this population is growing really fast,” said Brent Wakefield, President and CEO of Meals on Wheels San Diego.
Meals on Wheels San Diego received $4 million from Scott and the San Diego Foundation received $8 million. The money Scott donated is also unrestricted, meaning each organization has the freedom to use the money as they see fit.
“This is a gift to be given to people as quickly as possible because she’s worried what’s going to happen to this country because of COVID,” Wakefield said.
YWCA of San Diego County also received a donation from Scott, but News 8 was unable to confirm just how much it received.