A Kentucky non-profit has recently received a “six-figure donation” of “reparations” from a white anonymous donor who found out their great-grandfather owned slaves. The nonprofit provides outreach to marginalized communities. The donor got a large amount of money on their 25th birthday, prompted them to investigate their family history which they found out where the money came from according to NPR.

Nannie Grace Croney, deputy director of Change Today, Change Tomorrow, said during a Memorial Day news conference, “They investigated their family history to find out their great-grandfather had enslaved six individuals in Bourbon [County], Kentucky.”

The donor wasn’t able to find the descendants of the enslaved people because his great-grandfather didn’t keep documentation of their names. They were conscious of how stockpiling wealth has led to much of the country’s inequality, and “decided that they should give most of it away.” Croney said.

The organization is thankful for the unexpected gift, however, realize that the work is not done.

“We are very grateful on one hand,” Bridges said. “But on the other hand, we understand that the work that we do requires this type of investment in order to be sustainable.”

“We don’t have the luxury to kind of just sit on it, so it’s literally money that’s going to go right back into the community,” she continued.

The Louisville Courier Journal described how the group intends to use the donation saying, “Ryan said the nonprofit plans to put 40% of the money toward supporting the organization’s staff, while another 40% will go to sustaining their community outreach efforts and 20% is put into reserve.”

The donor is now appealing to other white people to pay reparations, including  families who didn’t own slaves

“As white people we all unfairly benefit from racism,” the nonprofit said. “We have to be willing to part with what was stolen, and do so without expectations of praise or control over how the money will be spent.”

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