Amazon donates to charities around the world this holiday season

Amazon will make product and monetary donations to more than a thousand charities around the world. This will enable the nonprofits to provide millions of items to those in their communities. Organizations in the U.S., UK, Spain, Singapore, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, France, China, Canada, Australia, and more will receive donations starting today.

To help distribute the donations, Amazon is teaming up with celebrities and influencers, including Gabrielle Union, Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Singaporean actor and musician, Nathan Hartono, and others who will continue to be announced throughout the holiday season. 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. Customers can 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 your 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.”

Actress, author, and philanthropist Gabrielle Union will deliver smiles to charitable organizations close to her heart all season long. Union will be joined by other celebrities who will surprise local charities in their communities.

"The events of this year have been devastating in so many ways," said Union. "I’m honored to join Amazon in delivering smiles to more than a thousand charities that 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 more incredible, deserving organizations throughout this holiday.”

From large-scale product donations to virtual events and Amazon Live interviews, customers can follow along via @Amazon and #DeliveringSmiles on Twitter to see how these celebrities and influencers bring holiday spirit to these organizations.

Starting today, Amazon will fulfill hundreds of AmazonSmile Charity Lists for nonprofit organizations supporting causes including homelessness, hunger, and disaster relief, among others. Recipients include organizations such as Covenant House, which will receive hundreds of 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." The series is hosted by gold medalist, Lindsey Vonn, and her canine co-host Lucy.

The featured organizations will receive 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. These donations will provide organizations with essentials they requested on their AmazonSmile Charity Lists and help them deliver smiles in communities across the U.S.

It’s easy to give back this holiday season on Amazon.com. As you shop for holiday supplies and gifts for family and friends, you can support your favorite charitable organization by shopping AmazonSmile on the Amazon app with an iPhone or Android device, 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.

Globally, AmazonSmile has donated more than $215 million to hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations—from global humanitarian efforts and animal welfare groups, to school PTAs, hospitals, and more. In addition, you 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.

Another way to donate to a child in need is to say, “Alexa, donate to Toys for Tots.” And this year, 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 choosing to donate a toy, Alexa will offer a reasonably priced item appropriate for kids from the Toys for Tots wish list. After customers confirm the order, Amazon will ship directly to Toys for Tots. Donations can be made now through January 11, 2021. Learn more.

Customers can also donate to other charities with Alexa. Simply say, “Alexa, I want to make a donation,” and then make a monetary donation to the organization of your choice. Learn more.

In addition to delivering smiles and donations, Amazon is supporting communities in a variety of ways during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has delivered more than 7 million meals across 25 U.S. cities, distributed more than $5 million worth of Amazon devices to help healthcare workers and nonprofits, launched free, virtual computer science resources for thousands of students, donated more than 13,000 laptops to students in need, donated more than $20 million to help accelerate COVID-19 research, and donated $10 million in critically needed PPE supplies, and more. Learn more about Amazon's efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.