Austin-Based Meals On Wheels Gets $8M From Philanthropist

AUSTIN, TX — Meals on Wheels Central Texas is among the nonprofits receiving donations from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott who gave the group $8 million, officials revealed on Wednesday.

Officials at the Austin-based nonprofit said the donation was made on Tuesday. The gift is one of more than hundreds across the U.S. from author/philanthropist Scott, who has pledged to donate the personal wealth over the course of her lifetime. Scott was the longtime spouse of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos before a divorce settlement last year made her one of the world's wealthiest people with an estimated fortune of $68 billion.

Meals on Wheels is one of 384 organizations benefiting from Scott's largesse in the last four months alone. Earlier this year, Scott gifted $1.67 billion to 116 non-profits across the country.

“Ms. Scott’s transformational grant will help our agency as we continue to meet the growing and complex needs of the home-bound seniors we are honored to serve," Adam Hauser, President/CEO of Meals on Wheels Central Texas, said in a prepared statement. "It will allow us to feed more hungry Central Texas seniors and provide other services to ensure they are not forgotten and can age with dignity and independence, while saving taxpayers' money in the process.”

Hauser expressed his gratitude to Scott, who was recently named to Forbes magazine’s list of the 100 most powerful women in the world. “We are humbled by Ms. Scott’s generosity and deeply thankful for the trust she has shown in our agency and the work we do. And, we are immensely grateful for our Central Texas donor and volunteer community for their loyal support and for helping us create and sustain an organization worthy of this extraordinary gift.”

The gift comes amid brisk regional growth with the Austin-Round Rock area has the second-fastest-growing senior population in the country, Hauser noted. As its population grows, so does the need for the life-sustaining services Meals on Wheels Central Texas provides, Hauser said.

The nonprofit's mission has heightened in urgency since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Hauser noted. Since municipal stay-at-home orders first went into effect in April 2020, the group's volunteers have delivered more than 640,000 meals, Hauser said.