In the last few years, Jeff Bezos’s philanthropic ventures have been making headlines as much as his sea-faring escapades. Of course, he still has miles to go compared to his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, who is a trailblazer in charity, but one cannot help but applaud his recent activities. With his fiancée Lauren Sanchez accompanying him, the Amazon co-founder has gifted $110.5 million in new grants to nonprofits working to end homelessness for families from his Day 1 Families Fund, the organization announced on Tuesday.
The donations vary from amounts like $425,000 to an exceedingly generous $5 million to as many as 40 organizations in over 23 states. Some of the most noteworthy include $2.5 million each for the Kentucky-based Welcome House and Los Angeles-based Jenesse Center, and $5 million for the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. The rising statistics of homelessness were a wake-up call, as for the first time in U.S. history, over a million people were reported homeless in 2023. In Miami-Dade County alone, approximately 1,000 “unsheltered persons” were reported.
The world’s third-richest man, worth $214 billion, and his fiancée, Sanchez, who are based in Indian Creek Village, also known as Billionaire Bunker, feel “Everyone deserves a roof over their head.” Their generous gift was the largest received by the Homeless Trust. The ecstatic group posed with a mammoth $5 million check from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund after Wednesday’s County Commission meeting. “We are beyond grateful for their generosity and remain committed to making strategic investments to significantly reduce family homelessness, ensuring no child has to sleep outside,” said Ron Book, chair of the Homeless Trust, according to the Miami Herald.
Only last month, tech magnate Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez pledged an impressive $60 million to restore land equivalent to twice the size of Rhode Island. The Bezos Earth Fund made this substantial donation to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation during its 40th anniversary gala in New York City on Saturday, marking a significant milestone for the foundation’s efforts.
His ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, who in recent times has made headlines only for her exceptional generosity, is offloading Amazon shares worth nearly $8 billion, as casually as tossing out stale biscuits, to change lives in remarkable ways. She has become the gold standard of philanthropy, quietly donating an astronomical $65 million to drive meaningful change in affordable housing, economic development, health, safety, and job creation. Her most recent gift, a staggering $15 million, was given to Seattle-based Craft3. This marked the largest donation the nonprofit has ever received. Craft3 provides loans to underserved small businesses, offers technical assistance to companies, and supports homeowners, creating ripples of impact across communities.
