Nashville Food Project receives $1 million gift from MacKenzie Scott

Kori Johnson
·2 min read
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott recently gave away more than $600 million to organizations across the country, and one in Middle Tennessee made the list.

The Nashville Food Project, a nonprofit headquartered in The Nations, now has $1 million extra in funding this week.

The nonprofit collects food that would otherwise be thrown away and it’s used to make between 6,000 to 7,000 meals each week that are shared with other community-based organizations and people with limited access to food.

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“It’s humbling, too, that the work we do every day is recognized and supported at this deep, transformative level,” said CJ Sentell, the CEO of the Nashville Food Project.

The money is a gift from Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and is part of Yield Giving, an effort established by Scott that aims to monetarily benefit nonprofits that are making a difference in the United States.

In a note on her website, Scott stated that she was grateful for this “pathway to support for people working to improve access to foundational resources in their communities.”

“This is not the kind of gift you plan for or expect, but it was a tremendous affirmation of our work and what we’re doing here every day,” said Sentell.

Staff, who applied for the open call process for Yield Giving in June 2023, told News 2 the money will help promote change among those who are suffering from food insecurity within the Nashville community.

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“Seniors and children are overwhelmingly the parts of our community that experience the highest rates of food insecurity and sour work really does focus on those organizations. Over 65% of our meals go to children and senior serving organizations,” said Sentell.

Staff plan to meet over the next two months to decide options for how to best use the money and will make an announcement early in the summer. Leaders said they’re excited about what the future holds.

“We didn’t apply for any new program or new initiative. This was really based on what we do every day and so we’re really going to use the funds to deepen that work and expand our impact in the community,” said Sentell.

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