The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A $1 million grant to the Franklin Food Bank from a foundation founded by MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of billionaire Jeff Bezos, will be put toward a new, larger facility, according to the organization.
The grant was part of $640 million Scott’s foundation, Yield Giving, awarded to 361 non-profits on March 19.
“From a pool of over 6,000 applicants, each of these 361 community-led non-profits was elevated by peer organizations and a round-2 evaluation panel for their outstanding work advancing the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means, and groups who have met with discrimination and other systemic obstacles,” Scott wrote on her web site. “Grateful to Lever for Change and everyone on the evaluation and implementation teams for their roles in creating this pathway to support for people working to improve access to foundational resources in their communities. They are vital agents of change.”
Scott, who with Bezos founded Amazon, vowed to give away half of her wealth to charity when she and Bezos divorced. Scott’s net worth has been set at $40 billion.
“(F)or the Franklin Food Bank to be recognized by Yield Giving as one of the impactful organizations doing transformative work in the food security space, that really means the world to us,” Franklin Food Bank Executive Director Derek Smith said in a press release about the grant.
In a separate email, a Food Bank representative wrote that the money would be used toward a new, larger facility the organization hopes to be active in three years.
“As a result of the enhancements made to the Franklin Food Bank’s programming over the past two years combined with our ability to deliver these programs in a positive and stigma-free atmosphere, and finally the very real economic landscape our neighbors face each and every day which cause people to experience food insecurity at alarming rates, we have outgrown our building,” the email reads. “Bursting at our concrete seams, we are now visioning and planning to move to a larger facility in the next three years.”
“This gift is the beginning of the fund for that new building,” according to the email. “It’s incredible and amazing to be seen as a changemaker, a valuable trailblazer and as a solid choice to invest real dollars in – but the truth is, this is just the beginning. We hope you will join us in celebrating this awesome achievement of recognition at a time when there truly are countless individuals and organizations doing incredible work out there.”
Smith said in the release that the Food Bank employees and volunteers “wake up each and every day, committed to serving our neighbors in need, and we’re so grateful for the many volunteers, partners, and supporters that dedicate the hard and heart work to our mission.”
“There are so many individuals and groups out there doing incredible work to serve the most underserved among us,” he said in the release. “We’re both humbled and inspired by their efforts …”
The foundation issued an open call to non-profits to submit grant applications in 2023. The original plan was to award 250 grants of $1 million each.
During the course of reviewing the applications, the Foundation decided to expand the number of awards and the amount of the grants to $2 million and $1 million.
Yield Giving has awarded more than $16.5 billion to more than 1,900 non-profits.
