MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, gives $6.8 million to Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio

MacKenzie Scott, philanthropist, author and former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated $6.8 million to Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio.

The gift was a big surprise to the nonprofit group.

Chief Executive Officer Jeff Scott, who is not related to the donor, called the unrestricted donation “an amazingly generous gift to our kids.”

The money was unsolicited and unexpected. The CEO said the philanthropist’s team contacted him about the group’s work to alleviate child poverty and help working families in Northeast Ohio. The team asked questions and then informed him of the donation.

“We are so thankful,” Jeff Scott said in a prepared statement.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio was formed by the 2019 merger of clubs in Akron, Cleveland, Sandusky and Lorain County. It aims to provide safe, fun places after school for youths 6 to 18 while focusing on academic success, healthy lifestyles and character development.

The organization has 40 sites and about 10,000 members in Summit, Cuyahoga, Lorain and Erie counties. With the $6.8 million gift, the agency hopes it can double the number of kids it serves with a goal of 20,000 children by 2025.

Its mission is “to inspire and enable young people who need us most to reach their full potential as productive, responsible, caring citizens.”

Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio noted that Cleveland ranks last among large cities in child poverty, with 46.1% of the city’s youths living below the poverty line.

The hours right after school are the most dangerous time for youths, Jeff Scott said, and opening more clubs for after-school programming is a critical need in the region.

“Our kids deserve our unrelenting efforts,” he said.

MacKenzie Scott, 51, a San Francisco native whose novels include “The Testing of Luther Albright” and “Traps,” was married to Bezos from 1993 to 2019. She married Seattle science teacher Dan Jewett in 2021.

According to Forbes, Scott’s net worth is around $62 billion and she has donated about 18% of it to nonprofit groups. Her fortune comes from Amazon shares she retained in her divorce from Bezos.

In 2020, she unexpectedly donated $10 million to Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and Central Ohio as well as $5 million to Goodwill Industries of Akron.

“It is breathtaking, it’s awesome and we’re truly honored,” Nancy Ellis McClenaghan, president and CEO of the Akron organization, commented at the time. “There aren’t enough superlatives.”

For more information about Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio, visit https://www.bgcneo.org/.

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife gives $6.8 million to Northeast Ohio agency