Habitat Tuscaloosa to receive portion of $436 million donation

First word of the multimillion-dollar donation sounded too good to be true.

Spoiler: It wasn’t. Certainly good, but also true.

Habitat for Humanity of Tuscaloosa is one of 84 affiliates that will receive a portion of MacKenzie Scott’s $436 million donation to Habitat for Humanity, an unsolicited and unexpected windfall.

When Ellen Woodward Potts, executive director of the Tuscaloosa affiliate, first heard word back in mid-February, she was doubtful.

“To be truthful, I thought it was a scam,” she said Tuesday, “but thought it would be worth my while to check.”

After following up, and hearing from Fidelity Charitable, the legitimacy solidified.

“Then it got really real, real quick,” Potts said.

It’s the largest publicly-disclosed donation from Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, with a net worth estimated last year at $62.2 billion, stemming from a 4% share of Amazon. She’s said to be the third wealthiest woman in the United States, and the 21st wealthiest person in the world.