Several California nonprofits to benefit from MacKenzie Scott's $640 million donation

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott announced Tuesday she is donating $640 million to 361 nonprofits after an open call for applications.

There are 76 nonprofits in California that stand to benefit from the donations, according to Scott's organization, Yield Giving.

The Southern California nonprofit The Cambodian Family is among the recipients. The group will receive $2 million.

"When I opened an email from Yield Giving, I was just crying because in my mind as a small nonprofit organization based in Orange County, California, we never thought we would have a chance to be gifted a significant amount like this," said Vattana Peong, executive director of The Cambodian Family.

The organization promotes social health by providing refugee and immigrant families the opportunities to develop knowledge and skills.

The nonprofit says they plan on using the money to expand their health and wellness classes.

"We are thinking to use our funding to really expand our program and services to provide more culturally, linguistically competent services," Peong said.

The Cambodian Family says $2 million is a significant amount of money and they are beyond grateful to have received the donation. However, they are still looking for more donations to support their cause. Donations can be made on the nonprofit's website at CambodianFamily.org.

The money donated by Scott is more than double the amount that the author and philanthropist initially promised when she launched an application process last year.

The 279 nonprofits that received top scores from an external review panel were awarded $2 million, while 82 organizations in a second tier received $1 million each. More than 6,000 nonprofits applied for the grants.

The groups were chosen for their "outstanding work advancing the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means, and groups who have met with discrimination and other systemic obstacles," Scott wrote in a post on the Yield Giving website.

Scott has given away $16.5 billion from the fortune she came into after divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2019.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.