Amazon donates $1.5M to support Seattle-area hunger relief efforts through four organizations

A rendering of the new Ballard Food Bank under construction in Seattle. (Image from Ballard Food Bank)

Amazon announced Tuesday that it is donating more than $ 1.5 million to various organizations in the Seattle area and the Puget Sound area whose goal is to provide food and famine relief.

Recipients of new funds include:

• Ballard Food Bank: Amazon is giving $ 750,000 to the organization in the Ballard neighborhood. The food bank will use $ 500,000 for its Hope Beyond Hunger capital campaign to help build and open its new home, due to open this fall. Another $ 250,000 will support community programs for families and children in need, and Amazon is currently exploring how its employees can empower the 190-strong volunteer squad to keep the food bank running. “Amazon answered the call at a critical time when so many of our neighbors are grappling with the effects of COVID-19,” said Jen Muzia, executive director of Ballard Food Bank, in a statement.
• FareStart: As a long-term Amazon partner, FareStart receives a donation of 250,000 US dollars to expand hunger relief and support community programs. Amazon has raised more than $ 17 million in donations in kind and in cash and contributed more than $ 2 million in revenue to FareStart’s catering business over the past 10 years. It also provides advisory services and space to support FareStart’s growing catering business.
• Food Lifeline: Amazon donated $ 250,000 to support the food, operations, and famine relief of the nonprofit.
• Ballard P-Patch: $ 270,000 from Amazon helped fill the donation gap needed to save the 44-year-old community garden.

Amazon has also provided resources to communities where its presence is growing, including Arlington, Virginia and Nashville, Tennessee. For more information on Amazon’s efforts, please visit the Help for Hunger website.