Goodwill Northern Michigan has received a one-time, unrestricted gift of $5 million from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos who has given away $4.2 billion to 384 organizations in the last four months.

Scott has given unexpected gifts across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington DC this year. In a blog post on Medium, Scott said she used a “data-driven approach to identifying organizations with strong leadership teams and results” and compiled a list of potential donation recipients including food banks, emergency relief funds, support services for the vulnerable, and nonprofits addressing long-term systemic inequities. Goodwill Northern Michigan was one of 384 recipients across the country chosen from a pool of 6,490 candidates to receive a donation.

"This gift is a great opportunity for northern Michigan, and a great responsibility for our organization," say Goodwill Northern Michigan Executive Director Dan Buron. "Combined with the support we receive from our family of donors, we are in a position to play an enhanced regional role in fulfilling our mission to reduce food insecurity and make homelessness a rare, brief, and one-time experience. We’re grateful to MacKenzie Scott for this demonstration of confidence in our organization, and to all of our donors who join her in supporting Goodwill Northern Michigan." 

Board Chair Lindsay Raymond also points to the beneficial timing of Scott’s $5 million gift. “We are in the early stages of our next strategic planning cycle, setting goals for the next three to five years,” says Raymond. “How best to invest the resources with which we have been entrusted in order to strengthen the Northern Michigan community will be of primary importance and will involve consultation with community leaders, donors, and people with lived experience. A gift of this magnitude allows us to reach further than we ever have before, and ensure that our community and those we serve have enduring support for years to come.”