Regents give $50,000 to Amarillo Area Foundation’s disaster relief fund

The Amarillo College Board of Regents unanimously agreed to contribute $50,000 in earned interest from AC’s MacKenzie Scott endowment to the Panhandle Disaster Relief Fund administered by the Amarillo Area Foundation.

Regents, who expressed concern for those affected by recent floods and tornadoes across the Texas Panhandle region, voted on the measure at their regularly scheduled meeting on June 27.

“Amarillo College has the best interests of the Panhandle at heart,” Chris Sharp, vice president of business affairs, said. “Our Regents saw an opportunity to use interest earned from Ms. Scott’s unrestricted gift to help provide humanitarian aid for the people of this region who have been devastated by the recent weather events, and they did not hesitate to do so.”

In June of 2021, author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave an immensely generous, unsolicited gift to AC of $15 million, funds wholly unrestricted and to be used at the sole discretion of the College. The vast majority of the gift was placed in an endowment for the generation of earnings in perpetuity.

Sharp says AC’s contribution will be disbursed to the Panhandle Disaster Relief Fund immediately.