Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gives $11.5M to Lehigh Valley, Berks County nonprofits
Moved to help communities suffering through the coronavirus pandemic, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $4.1 billion to 384 nonprofits across the U.S., including one from the Lehigh Valley and another from Berks County.
Meals On Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley in Bethlehem Township received $1.5 million from the gifts donated last week by Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
“When I first got the email telling me that there was an anonymous donor who wanted to make a very large gift, I was skeptical,” Meals On Wheels Chief Executive Officer Victoria Coyle said. “When it was confirmed, I was stunned. I know Ms. Scott’s people did a lot of research to find organizations that match their criteria, but if feels like we hit the nonprofit lottery.”
Meals On Wheels provides home-delivered meals, grocery shopping and other services to homebound seniors and disabled adults.
Coyle plans to work with the staff on how to use the funding, but said the money will go to the agency’s capital campaign, client meals, various projects and future endowment. Allocating the money will take months.
“We want to be responsible and creative as we think about how to make the most of this phenomenal gift,” Coyle said.
“We spend a lot of time applying for grants that have very specific requirements,” she said. “This gift comes with no strings attached, other than writing a brief annual report for three years. We are in the middle of a capital campaign for a new building in the middle of a pandemic. I’d say that fact alone makes this funding quite the godsend.”
Another $10 million went to United Way of Berks County.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” United Way spokesperson Chris Spanier said. “It certainly took us by surprise. It’s a huge responsibility that we take very seriously.”
It’s money just in time to help communities struggling through the pandemic.
“There is immense need among too many individuals and families facing difficult times with food, housing, shelter, utility assistance, the list goes on,” Spanier said.
United Way, a coalition of charitable community organizations pooling efforts in fundraising and support, formed a committee to determine howthe money will be allocated.
“They’ll make sure these dollars are managed effectively and invested in significant programs that will expand our work beyond our annual campaign,” Spanier said.
Other Pennsylvania agencies that received money from Scott include the Greater Philadelphia YMCA in Conshohocken and Lincoln University in Chester County, America’s first degree-granting historically Black university.
The idea for Scott’s charitable gifting came about when she asked a team of advisers to help her “accelerate” her 2020 giving with immediate help to those financially gutted by the pandemic, according to Associated Press reports.
Quoting poet Emily Dickinson — “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” — as her inspiration in a Dec. 15 blog, Scott called the pandemic “a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling.”
She said the team used a datadriven approach, identifying organizations with strong leadership and results, specifically in communities with high food insecurity, racial inequity and poverty rates “and low access to philanthropic capital,” according to an Associated Press article.