SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: AMZN) – Today, Amazon announced that it will support more than a thousand charities around the world with product and monetary donations to help them get millions of items they need. Organizations in the U.S., U.K., Spain, Singapore, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, France, China, Canada, Australia and more will receive donations starting today. To help distribute the donations, Amazon will team up with celebrity friends, including Gabrielle Union, Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Singaporean actor and musician, Nathan Hartono, among others who will continue to be announced throughout the holidays. In addition, Amazon will fulfill hundreds of AmazonSmile Charity Lists across the U.S., supporting organizations in communities hit hard by the events of this year including those that support causes such as homelessness, hunger and disaster relief, among others. Customers can also join Amazon in its season of giving by shopping through AmazonSmile, donating an item via AmazonSmile Charity Lists, or making a monetary donation to the organization of their choice by saying, “Alexa, I want to make a donation.”
“Charitable organizations around the world serve a vital role in their communities, and they’re facing new challenges—often with fewer resources—as we all continue to fight through a global pandemic,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer. “Amazon is proud to support over one thousand organizations by donating millions of the items they need to help their communities and, hopefully, deliver much-needed smiles along the way.”
Find out more about how Amazon is delivering smiles this holiday season and ways to get involved below.
A Season of Smiles with Gabrielle Union. Amazon has teamed up with actress, author, and philanthropist Gabrielle Union to deliver smiles all season long to charitable organizations close to her heart. She will be joined by a number of celebrities worldwide who will be surprising local charities in their communities with the support and smiles they need this holiday season. From large-scale product donations to virtual events to Amazon Live interviews, customers can follow along via @Amazon and #DeliveringSmiles to discover the various ways these celebrities will be bringing the spirit of the holidays to these wonderful organizations.
“The events of this year have been devastating in so many ways,” said Gabrielle Union. “I’m honored to join Amazon in Delivering Smiles to more than a thousand charities who are helping those who need it most this holiday season, including many close to my heart. I’m excited to share on social how Amazon and I will be surprising incredible, deserving organizations with the items they need throughout this holiday.”
Amazon Fulfills Hundreds of AmazonSmile Charity Lists. Starting today, Amazon will fulfill hundreds of AmazonSmile Charity Lists for nonprofit organizations supporting causes including homelessness, hunger and disaster relief, among others, with a focus on charities serving communities that have been hit hard in 2020. Recipients include organizations such as Covenant House, which will be receiving hundreds of warm clothing and bedding items to provide youth overcoming homelessness with a safe, warm place to sleep, and Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, which will receive shelf stable pantry items to help feed hundreds of families. Also among the list of charities to receive donations are the organizations featured in the new unscripted global Amazon Original series, The Pack, hosted by gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, and her canine co-host Lucy that celebrates the bond between dogs and their human companions. Donations—including food and pantry items, blankets, sheets, toys, educational items for kids, socks, outerwear and other apparel items, as well as monetary donations to put towards the purchase of these items—will provide organizations with the essential items they requested on their Charity Lists, to help deliver smiles to communities across the U.S.
Helping Customers Give Back While They Shop. It’s easy for customers to give back this holiday season on Amazon.com. While shopping for holiday supplies and gifts for family and friends, customers can support their favorite charitable organization by shopping AmazonSmile via the Amazon app on iPhones and Android phones, or by starting at smile.amazon.com on a web browser. AmazonSmile has the same low prices and convenient shopping experience customers have come to expect from Amazon, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to a charity of your choice. AmazonSmile has donated more than $215 million globally to hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations—from global humanitarian efforts and animal welfare groups, to school PTAs, hospitals, and more. In addition, customers can directly donate items to charitable organizations through AmazonSmile Charity Lists, where nonprofits create wish lists of the products they need most. Visit smile.amazon.com/charitylists to learn more and to donate essential items to charitable organizations across the U.S.
“Alexa, donate to Toys for Tots.” Looking to make a difference for a child this holiday season? Amazon is giving customers an easy way to donate to a child in need: just say, “Alexa, donate to Toys for Tots.” Plus, Amazon will match all toy donations with a toy for toy match. Customers can choose to donate money or a toy to the organization. If customers choose to donate a toy, Alexa will offer a reasonably priced item appropriate for kids from the Toys for Tots wish list. After a customer confirms the order, Amazon ships directly to Toys for Tots. Customers can donate now through January 11, 2021. For more information, visit amazon.com/toysfortotsdonate. With Alexa, it’s also easy for customers to help other charities. Simply say, “Alexa, I want to make a donation,” and you can make a monetary donation to the organization of your choice. For more information and charities to support, visit pay.amazon.com/alexadonations.
Additional Ways Amazon is Giving Back to Communities. In addition to delivering smiles and donations, Amazon is supporting communities in a range of ways during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has donated more than 13,000 laptops to students in need, distributed more than $5 million worth of Amazon devices to help healthcare workers and nonprofits, delivered more than 7 million meals across 25 U.S. cities, launched free, virtual computer science resources for thousands of students, donated more than $20 million to help accelerate COVID-19 research, donated $10 million in critically needed PPE supplies, and more. To learn more about what Amazon is doing in response to COVID-19 for communities, employees, partners, and customers, check out the Amazon Blog: Day One.
About AmazonSmile
AmazonSmile is a simple way for customers to support their favorite charity every time they shop with Amazon. When shopping at AmazonSmile, customers will find tens of millions of eligible items offered at the same low prices and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with an added bonus that the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5 percent of the purchase price to charitable organizations customers choose, at no extra cost to them. Customers can choose from over one million organizations to support by visiting smile.amazon.com on web browsers or by activating AmazonSmile in the Amazon Shopping app for iPhones and Android phones. AmazonSmile customers can support charitable organizations even further with AmazonSmile Charity Lists, a meaningful way to donate items directly to charities based on lists of what the organizations need most.
To support a favorite charity when shopping throughout the holidays, visit smile.amazon.com or smile.amazon.com/about to learn more.
About Amazon in the Community
Amazon is committed to helping more children and young adults, especially those from underrepresented and underserved communities, have the resources and skills they need to build their best future. Amazon focuses on building long-term, innovative, and high impact programs that leverage Amazon’s unique assets and culture. Initiatives include Amazon Future Engineer, designed to inspire and excite tens of thousands of children and young adults from underserved and underrepresented communities each year to pursue computer science, as well as programs that support immediate needs, including addressing family homelessness through donations and housing a homeless shelter in its Seattle headquarters, as well as global relief efforts for people in need following natural disasters.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
