Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana to get record $2.9M gift from MacKenzie Scott
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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana will receive a $2.9 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the largest single gift from an individual donor in the organization's history, according to CEO Darcey Palmer-Shultz.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana is a nonprofit that pairs kids ages 8 to 18 with adult volunteer mentors in a one-to-one relationship. The organization serves young people and families who reside in Marion, Hamilton and Johnson counties.
"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,” Brandi Davis-Handy, the organization's board president, said in a Tuesday press 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.”
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Nationwide, 38 independent affiliates and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America received a total of $122.6 million in gifts from Scott.
Scott's gift will allow the local organization to expand initiatives to help more kids in addition to investing in long-term sustainability and continuing to strengthen efforts to put on programming committed to diversity and inclusion, the press release said.
"We do know, through the work we've done to really listen to parents, volunteers and kids and partners, that we're going to be trained to collaborate to bring new services to families and possibly expand so that we do more group-based programming to reach more kids more quickly, too," Palmer-Shultz told IndyStar.
The pandemic has led to a decline in volunteers, Palmer-Shultz said, and there are more kids waiting for mentors than any time before in the history of the local chapter. The organization is hoping that the gift will energize people to get involved.
"We're optimistic about people getting back involved as volunteers and really hoping that gifts like this one are just a reminder to our community of the need for volunteers, of the great kids who need and want support," she said.
MacKenzie Scott's commitment to philanthropy
The gift to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana is part of a commitment Scott made in 2019 to philanthropy and giving away much of her wealth. Scott, who was previously married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is one of the wealthiest women in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Scott has written publicly in the past that she and her team of advisors work to identify and give to organizations “with strong leadership teams and results, with special attention to those operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates and low access to philanthropic capital.”
The gift was unsolicited and unrestricted, meaning that the organization can use the funds at their discretion to invest in what is important to the local community, Palmer-Shultz said.
"This feels like a big vote of confidence, a boost of energy, an inspiration to really step out and do some things differently and do more for our community," she said.
In 2021, Scott gifted $25 million to United Way of Central Indiana, the largest gift from a single donor in the organization's history.
To get involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, visit bebigforkids.org or call 317-921-2201.
Contact IndyStar trending reporter Claire Rafford at crafford@gannett.com or on Twitter @clairerafford.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: BBBSCI to receive $2.9M gift from MacKenzie Scott in historic donation
