Amazon employees from 52 countries across the globe participated in Amazon’s Global Month of Volunteering, a month-long initiative dedicated to making a positive impact in the communities where our employees live and work. Team members supported more than 400 organizations through in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities. Amazon employees collected books and school supplies for students, donated food to local foodbanks, planted trees, and cleaned up parks. They participated in 1,800 events, volunteering with organizations for causes they’re passionate about supporting.
“We partner with local organizations, working side by side to address pressing challenges and build healthy communities. Our Global Month of Volunteering is an example of how our employees supported more than 400 community partners and civic leaders around the world to drive positive outcomes in locations where we live and work,” said Bettina Stix, director of product and volunteering for Amazon in the Community. “We look forward to continuously building on how we help our employees tap into their passions and ideas to make a difference in their local communities.”
Orginally posted on August 15, 2022
Amazon is kicking off its Global Month of Volunteering, a month-long initiative dedicated to driving meaningful impact in the communities where our employees live and work around the world. From August 15 to September 16, Amazon employees will volunteer with organizations and causes they’re passionate about to engage even further within their communities. Partnering with more than 400 community organizations for in-person or virtual volunteer opportunities, Amazon employees will be building homes for families in need, helping jobseekers write resumes, making meals at local foodbanks, packing disaster relief kits, and preparing and donating back-to-school items for families in underserved neighborhoods, along with many other volunteer activities.
“We employ more than 1 million people across dozens of countries. We believe our employees’ passion, ideas, and time make a difference,” said Alice Shobe, global director of Amazon in the Community. “Our Global Month of Volunteering is an example of how we use our resources for good. We’ve built partnerships with many community organizations in recent years. Because we invest in locations where our employees work, this initiative helps us partner with more local organizations and civic leaders. We want them to know that they can count on Amazon and their employees to build healthy and equitable communities.”
Volunteer opportunities will address a range of issues, from housing inequity and food insecurity to education and humanitarian relief. One of the upcoming Global Month of Volunteering initiatives in the Puget Sound region will help improve public parks in Seattle. In partnership with the Seattle Parks Foundation, the City of Seattle Parks Department, and the Office of the Mayor, we are excited to have hundreds of Amazon volunteers participate in a Seattle Parks cleanup and beautification initiative across 10 community greenspaces throughout the city.
The effort supports Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s “One Seattle” initiative to help create a thriving, innovative, and equitable city. Harrell noted the impact of Amazon’s corporate support and volunteer service.
“We have more work to do to drive positive, equitable outcomes—but by working together toward common goals with partners like Amazon, we are making progress,” said Harrell. “In One Seattle, we recognize that the human connections and relationship building that stem from these volunteer opportunities are invaluable, and I am excited to see the force-multiplying effect this effort has for our communities.”
Wendy Leedy, an Amazon Web Services employee in Arlington, Virginia, currently co-chairs local social impact initiatives that help connect employees with nonprofits across Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. She looks forward to engaging colleagues through Amazon’s Global Month of Volunteering.
“Volunteering is one way for me, my peers, and our families to help address urgent needs in our community,” Leedy said. “We want to make a positive impact where we live and work, and try to do so across a variety of issues we’re passionate about—from helping refresh facilities at Homestretch, a nonprofit addressing the root causes of homelessness, to partnering with Clean the World to prepare kits of essential supplies that aid families in their recovery following a crisis. I’m excited to help increase awareness of local community partners and coordinate our support.”
Amazon donated more than $360 million in cash contributions to hundreds of organizations around the world last year, and the company was recently named the No. 1 corporate philanthropist in the Puget Sound region, its hometown.
Our philanthropic initiatives span from Amazon Future Engineer, a program that funds computer science education for underserved schools across the country, to our partnership with Mary’s Place, a shelter for families experiencing homelessness inside one of our office buildings in Seattle.
In 2021, we also created the Housing Equity Fund, a $2 billion initiative to build and preserve more than 20,000 affordable housing units in our hometown communities. In the first year, we committed to the construction and preservation of more than 8,000 affordable homes, increasing the stock of affordable housing by more than 20% in Bellevue, Washington, and Arlington, Virginia.
Learn more about Amazon’s community efforts, and get updates on the Global Month of Volunteering (GMV) by following #AmazonGMV on social media to find out how our employees are supporting local nonprofits across the world.
