Newlywed MacKenzie Scott has been on a spending spree. As Forbes put it, she “is giving away her $46 billion fortune faster than anyone in history.” Why last year she donated $2.74 billion to 286 organizations. And the great news is that North Texas non-profits are on the receiving end of her incredible generosity.
Last month she sent checks for $3.3M to each of the Communities In School in Dallas, North Texas and Tarrant County.
Now comes word that Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity has just received the largest unrestricted donation in its 36-year history — $9 million. That gift was part of the $436M the 51-year-old mom/author/advocate gave to Habitat for Humanity International and its 83 affiliate.
As Dallas Area Habitat CEO Dave Crawford explained, “This generous and unexpected gift from MacKenzie Scott will ensure that we can go much further and faster in our efforts to serve our mission. As the cost of land continues to dramatically rise across our region, a gift of this magnitude ensures we are able to make significant land investments that will help keep the costs of homes within reach for thousands of Dallas residents. We are immensely grateful to Ms. Scott, and our hope is that this donation inspires others to take a look at how their gifts to Dallas Habitat can build on this momentum, and this new $9 million fertile ground.”
While the official word of the gift came from Dallas Area Habitat, it was due to MacKenzie’s opting out of making the announcement herself. Last December the Princeton grad wrote on Medium, “I want to let each of these incredible teams speak for themselves first if they choose to, with the hope that when they do, media focuses on their contributions instead of mine.”
Sorry to let MacKenzie down, but when one is that committed to helping others with unimaginable amounts of money, it’s hard to put them in the corner.
Congrats to Dallas Area Habitat for benefiting from the shower of MacKenzie’s generosity.
* Photo provided by Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity