INDIANAPOLIS — (NOTE: The video above is from a previous report on MacKenzie Scott donating $800,000 to Communities in Schools Indiana.)
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is donating $2.9 million to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana (BBBSCI) as part of her commitment in 2020 to give back a majority of her wealth to community organizations.
The gift will support the youth organization in furthering its mission to ensure young people have access to powerful mentoring experiences that empower them with a plan for their future and a mentor whose impact lasts a lifetime.
"We are incredibly grateful for the timing of this gift as we recently surpassed 1,400 youth referrals, the largest demand for our mentoring program in our organization's history," BBBSCI Board President Brandi Davis-Handy said in a news release. "Unrelated to this gift, we have been developing plans to expand programming and collaborative efforts to better meet this need, and this gift will support those efforts and allow us to reach more young people more quickly."
BBBSCI said Scott's gift will help launch new strategic initiatives and programming to reach more youth; strengthen efforts to continue delivering high-quality programming committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion; and invest in the long-term sustainability of its service in the central Indiana community.
Exclusively revealed on "TODAY," Scott made the largest donation by a single person — $122.6 million — in the 118-year history of Big Brothers Big Sisters, which will be divided among 38 agencies.
In April, Scott, who is also an author and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, gave $800,000 to Communities in Schools Indiana.