TUCSON, Ariz. (AP/KGUN) — Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $84.5 million to Girl Scouts of the USA and 29 of its local branches.
Sofia Chang, CEO of the 110-year-old organization, said Tuesday that Scott's support means as much to them as the donation itself.
The donation is the largest the organization has ever received from an individual since it was founded in 1912, Chang said.
Director of Public Relations and Communications Angie Bush told KGUN 9 Southern Arizona Girl Scouts will receive $1.4 million of this massive donation.
“We are honored and humbled to be one of the Councils to receive this incredible gift from Mackenzie Scott,” shared Kristen Garcia-Hernandez, CEO of Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona. “We are grateful that our work has been recognized by this powerful philanthropist. Her gift allows us to elevate and accelerate our work of fueling the female leadership pipeline. We hope this gift attracts the attention of others to invest in girls to change the world."
The funds will help the organization recover from the impact of the pandemic, which drove down its membership.
Specifically, the gift will go toward supporting volunteers and staff, making their camp properties more resistant to the impacts of climate change, science and technology education for youth members, and making their troops and programming more accessible through diversity and inclusion programming.
The gift to the Girl Scouts is the latest Scott has given to nonprofits, totaling around $12 billion since 2019.
Scott gave $122.6 million to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in May.
In March, the billionaire philanthropist donated $436 million to Habitat for Humanity International and 84 of its U.S. affiliates.
Also, that month, she gifted Planned Parenthood Federation of America $275 million, which is the largest donation a single individual has given in its history, the nonprofit said.
Scott pledged in 2019 to give away most of her fortune, which mostly comes from her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
