BALTIMORE — Philanthropist Mackenzie Scott donated $15 million to Baltimore-Based Lutheran Immigration and Refugee services.
Scott has donated $1,990,800,000 to 343 organizations over the last seven months.
The donation is the single largest contribution the organization has received from a single donor in its 83-year history.
"This unprecedented and timely gift will make a monumental difference in the lives of vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers as they strive to achieve their own American Dream in Baltimore and beyond," said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. "We are extremely grateful to MacKenzie Scott for this recognition of our decades-long legacy of service. Her support represents a transformational opportunity to expand innovative programming, revitalize cities like Baltimore, and reimagine how the U.S. welcomes new Americans.”
The nonprofit stated that it will use funds to launch and expand its range of service programs, including workforce initiatives to match employers and workers in Baltimore, as well as trauma informed mental healthcare for children and families in the area.
The donation came amid the organizations historic period of growth. In the past year alone, refugee nonprofit resettled 14,000 Afghans following the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The nonprofit is also assisting Ukrainians and Venezuelans displaced in by ongoing crises in their homeland, as well as refugees from Syria, Burma, the Democratic Republic ion Congo, and elsewhere around the globe.
