Billionaire novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $8 million to The San Diego Foundation's COVID-19 Community Response Fund, it was announced Thursday, part of $4.2 billion she has donated in the last four months to 384 organizations.
Scott's donation adds to more than 3,500 donations since March for the fund intended to help San Diegans in need during the pandemic.
Combined with Scott's gift, the San Diego Foundation has raised more than $64 million for the COVID-19 Community Response Fund and local nonprofits during the pandemic.
"COVID-19 has put a spotlight not only on the underlying inequities in our communities, but also the organizations working to address the inequities of this crisis," said Mark Stuart, president and CEO of The San Diego Foundation. "We are so grateful for the gift from MacKenzie Scott and others who continue to provide hope and healing through contributions to the response fund that are so urgently needed."
RELATED: MacKenzie Scott Has Donated More Than $4 Billion In Last 4 Months
The leadership council for the COVID-19 fund meets regularly to identify and discuss community needs and make recommendations for rapid response grants to help those disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus. Since March, the fund has granted more than $54 million to hundreds of nonprofits through multiple rounds of grantmaking.
With this latest influx of support, foundation plans to announce more grants for San Diego nonprofits this week.
Scott was the longtime spouse of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Their divorce settlement in 2019 made her one of the wealthiest people on the planet and she has an estimated worth of $68 billion. She has pledged to give away most of her wealth to charity over her lifetime.
