COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia Urban League on Monday announced a gift of $1.5 million to help grow its work to empower underserved and disadvantaged communities.
The gift, by philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott, is the largest contribution in the affiliate’s 55-year history.
“We are thankful to MacKenzie Scott for recognizing the value of our hardworking efforts to uplift and provide fair and equal opportunities for underserved and disadvantaged people in South Carolina," said J. T. McLawhorn, Jr., who has been the organization's president for more than four decades.
McLawhorn said the contribution will help the Columbia Urban League address “structural and racial equity.”
The Columbia Urban League is celebrating its 55th anniversary on November 8, with its Equal Opportunity Day Dinner at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
The Columbia affiliate was founded in 1967 by an interracial group of citizens seeking to improve frayed race relations and promote community togetherness in the Midlands.
The Columbia Urban League is one of 25 National Urban League affiliates around the nation that received similar donations from Scott, for a total gift of $108 million to National Urban League affiliates.
In 2019, Scott signed The Giving Pledge, a promise by the world's wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.