Amazon announced Tuesday that it is donating more than $1.5 million to a variety of organizations in the Seattle area and Puget Sound region whose aim is to provide food assistance and hunger relief.
The recipients of new funding include:
- Ballard Food Bank: Amazon is giving the organization in the Ballard neighborhood $750,000. The food bank will use $500,000 toward its “Hope Beyond Hunger” capital campaign to support the construction and opening of its new home, set to open this fall. Another $250,000 will support community programming for families and children in need, and Amazon is also exploring how its employees might bolster the 190-person volunteer force to drives the food bank’s operations. “Amazon has answered the call at a critical time when so many of our neighbors are struggling with the impacts of COVID-19,” Jen Muzia, executive director of Ballard Food Bank, said in a statement.
- FareStart: A longtime Amazon partner, FareStart is receiving a $250,000 donation to expand hunger relief operations and support community programs. Amazon has provided more than $17 million in-kind and cash donations and contributed more than $2 million in revenue to FareStart’s catering business over the past 10 years. It also provides consultancy services and space to help FareStart’s growing catering business.
- Food Lifeline: Amazon donated $250,000 to support the nonprofit’s food supplies, operations, and hunger relief efforts.
- Ballard P-Patch: A $270,000 from Amazon helped close the fundraising gap needed to help save the 44-year-old, half-acre community garden.
Amazon has also committed resources to communities where its presence is growing, including Arlington, Va., and Nashville, Tenn. More details are available about Amazon’s efforts on its Help for Hunger web page.