Mississippi Food Network receives $9 million gift from billionaire philanthropist

Billionaire MacKenzie Scott’s name is turning up in connection with millions of dollars in gifts provided to organizations in Mississippi.

Thursday, the Mississippi Food Network announced it was one of Scott’s beneficiaries, having received $9 million, the largest donation from a single donor it has ever received.

“MacKenzie Scott’s investment in Mississippi is a vote of confidence in the work we are all doing together to end hunger in our great state,” said Mississippi Food Network CEO Charles Beady in a statement. The organization will use the gift to “accelerate and amplify our goal for ending hunger in our state.”

During this year when so many have lost jobs and income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the network has distributed abour twice as much food in Mississippi than it did last year.

This week, two Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Mississippi also received gifts from the philanthropist. Alcorn State University received $25 million and Tougaloo College received $6 million.

Scott, the former wife of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos, is said to be one of the richest people in the world. Over the past year, she has given away about $4.2 billion of her vast fortune to nonprofits and educational institutions from coast-to-coast.