The world’s richest man Jeff Bezos is donating $100 million to Feeding America, a nonprofit that helps food banks feed families in need.
The Amazon founder and CEO posted about the donation on his Instagram account Thursday afternoon, citing the spread of the coronavirus as his reason for the donation.
“Even in ordinary times, food insecurity in American households is an important problem, and unfortunately Covid is amplifying that stress significantly,” Bezos wrote.
“Non-profit food banks and food pantries rely in large part on surplus food from a range of food businesses. For example, many restaurants donate excess food.
“But during this time of social distancing, restaurants are closed, and many other normal channels of excess food have also shut down. To make matters worse, as supply is dwindling, demand for food bank services is going up.”
The Amazon boss has faced criticism for how he has handled the coronavirus pandemic in his own company, as warehouse employees have been diagnosed with coronavirus.
On March 30, warehouse workers at Amazon’s Staten Island, New York fulfillment center walked out to protest the failure to adequately address the coronavirus there, including failing to notify workers of confirmed cases and properly cleaning the warehouse.
Around the same time that Bezos posted his Instagram post announcing the $100 million gift, The Guardian published an op-ed by a former Amazon warehouse manager at the Staten Island facility, who believes he was fired last week for participating in the walkout.
Bezos meanwhile joins a long list of celebs, athletes and companies donating millions to support coronavirus relief efforts … including Oprah’s $10m donation earlier Thursday.
Apple, Laurene Powell Jobs, and Leonardo DiCaprio also teamed up to launch a new organization called America’s Food Fund — and Feeding America will be a beneficiary.
