From the headquarters of Marriott International in downtown Bethesda to the hospital corridors of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, the Marriott family’s philanthropy is helping to shape the future of American health care, according to the family and the clinic.
The Bill and Donna Marriott Foundation, in collaboration with The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, announced Friday a $100 million gift to Mayo Clinic, one of the largest philanthropic contributions in the institution’s history, the clinic said in a statement. The donation will support “Bold. Forward. Unbound.,” the Mayo Clinic’s $5 billion initiative to transform health care through integrated physical and digital spaces.
The gift arrives at a poignant moment for the Bethesda-based Marriott family behind the global hospitality corporation Marriott International. Donna Marriott, a lifelong philanthropist, advocate, and patron of the Mayo Clinic, died Dec. 30 at age 90. Donna and her husband, Bill Marriott Jr., executive chairman emeritus of Marriott International, raised their family in Bethesda, where Bill Jr. still lives…