It’s Giving Tuesday, and one of the world’s wealthiest couples has made a major gift to help combat homelessness in the U.S.
Lauren Sánchez Bezos, who this summer wed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced Monday the couple had donated $102.5 million in grants among 32 nonprofits across the country.
The gifts are part of the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund, which has donated more than $850 million to organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam. Founded in 2018, the Day 1 Families Fund made a $2 billion commitment to focus on making donations to existing nonprofits helping families who are experiencing homelessness, and building and operating a network of new, tuition-free preschools in under-resourced communities. The Bezoses have issued a round of grants each year since 2018.
Sánchez Bezos recounted meeting families benefiting from local organizations to which the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund offered grants, like Community of Hope in Washington, D.C. She told Good Morning America when she visited Community of Hope, she met one woman who had been kicked out of her home with her infant daughter, but the organization took her in for the night, gave them a bed with sheets and a locked door.
“It brought tears to my eyes seeing this little baby and seeing her flourish,” Sánchez Bezos said. “Selfishly, it fills my heart meeting these families. It really, really does.”
Community of Hope has received two grants from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund: a $3.75 million grant in 2023, and a $5 million grant in 2018. The grants can be used however the organizations see fit, Sánchez Bezos said.
“It makes a huge impact because places like Community of Hope can do what they want with it, like … buy them sheets, buy the kids toys, buy them outfits to wear—all of the things that we as moms can take for granted,” Sánchez Bezos said. “But they are really important to get them moving in the right direction.”
Bezos’s philanthropic style
Sánchez Bezos said the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund has a group of advisors each year to help them choose where to donate. This year, the group of advisors includes leaders from organizations including consulting groups, nonprofit organizations, as well as the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
“They know what these communities need,” Sánchez Bezos said. “This is just the beginning. It’s a $2 billion commitment … and we’re going to continue doing it.”
In 2022, Bezos took a page out of Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ philanthropic playbook, vowing to give away the majority of his wealth (currently $256 billion) during his lifetime. At the time, he admitted that would be a tall task.
“The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way,” he told CNN. “It’s not easy.” But the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, and the Bezos Courage and Civility Award, among other gifts, at least give some structure to their giving plan.
Bezos’s ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, has arguably been the biggest name in philanthropy this year, making major gifts to organizations focused on DEI, disaster recovery, and education.
In the past five years, Scott has donated more than $20 billion, making her one of the world’s most generous philanthropists, alongside Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett. Scott’s organization, Yield Giving, has donated more than $19.25 billion, but that doesn’t yet reflect this year’s gifts.
