Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee was selected as one of 384 organizations across the nation to receive a multimillion-dollar financial investment from writer, advocate and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Representatives reached out to the Bradenton, Florida-based nonprofit organization on Scott's behalf in early December, indicating a gift would be forthcoming; the amount was announced this week. Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee runs the Food Bank of Manatee, among other programs.

Other local organizations that have been a recipient of Scott's philanthropy are United Way Suncoast, which received $20 million; Goodwill Manasota, which received a $10 million; and Easterseals of Southwest Florida, which received a $3 million. According to the Bradenton Herald, local organizations have been the recipients of more than $37 million in funding from Scott, who has a net worth of $59.8 billion and plans to distribute more than $4.2 billion to nonprofits throughout the country.