[PPRAANet] Amazon Smile

Wed Jan 18 22:54:48 EST 2023

Or, here is the text of what they sent to Smile customers. FWIW

Dear customer,

In 2013, we launched AmazonSmile to make it easier for customers to 
support their favorite charities. However, after almost a decade, the 
program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped. 
With so many eligible organizations—more than 1 million globally—our 
ability to have an impact was often spread too thin.

We are writing to let you know that we plan to wind down AmazonSmile by 
February 20, 2023. We will continue to pursue and invest in other areas 
where we’ve seen we can make meaningful change—from building affordable 
housing to providing access to computer science education for students 
in underserved communities to using our logistics infrastructure and 
technology to assist broad communities impacted by natural disasters.

To help charities that have been a part of the AmazonSmile program with 
this transition, we will be providing them with a one-time donation 
equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022 through the 
program, and they will also be able to accrue additional donations until 
the program officially closes in February. Once AmazonSmile closes, 
charities will still be able to seek support from Amazon customers by 
creating their own wish lists.

As a company, we will continue supporting a wide range of other programs 
that help thousands of charities and communities across the U.S. For 
instance:

     Housing Equity Fund: We’re investing $2 billion to build and 
preserve affordable housing in our hometown communities. In just two 
years, we’ve provided funding to create more than 14,000 affordable 
homes—and we expect to build at least 6,000 more in the coming months. 
These units will host more than 18,000 moderate- to low-income families, 
many of them with children. In one year alone, our investments have been 
able to increase the affordable housing stock in communities like 
Bellevue, Washington and Arlington, Virginia by at least 20%.

     Amazon Future Engineer: We’ve funded computer science curriculum 
for more than 600,000 students across over 5,000 schools—all in 
underserved communities. We have plans to reach an additional 1 million 
students this year. We’ve also provided immediate assistance to 55,000 
students in our hometown communities by giving them warm clothes for the 
winter, food, and school supplies.

     Community Delivery Program: We’ve partnered with food banks in 35 
U.S. cities to deliver more than 23 million meals, using our logistics 
infrastructure to help families in need access healthy food – and we 
plan to deliver 12 million more meals this year alone. In addition to 
our delivery services, we’ve also donated 30 million meals in 
communities across the country.

     Amazon Disaster Relief: We’re using our logistics capabilities, 
inventory, and cloud technology to provide fast aid to communities 
affected by natural disasters. For example, we’ve created a Disaster 
Relief Hub in Atlanta with more than 1 million relief items ready for 
deployment, our Disaster Relief team has responded to more than 95 
natural disasters, and we’ve donated more than 20 million relief 
products to nonprofits assisting communities on the ground.

     Community Giving: We support hundreds of local nonprofits doing 
meaningful work in cities where our employees and their families live. 
For example, each year we donate hundreds of millions of dollars to 
organizations working to build stronger communities, from youth sport 
leagues, to local community colleges, to shelters for families 
experiencing homelessness.

We’ll continue working to make a difference in many ways, and our 
long-term commitment to our communities remains the same—we’re 
determined to do every day better for our customers, our employees, and 
the world at large.

Thank you for being an Amazon customer.

On 1/18/2023 8:50 PM, John Bloodgood wrote:
> I don’t recall it generating huge $$ for the club, but it was helping.  If people want to read more about the program ending, here is a news article:
>
> https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/18/amazon-discontinues-amazonsmile-charity-donation-program-amid-cost-cuts.html
>
>
>
> John Bloodgood, KD0SFY
>
> From: Lawrence Coblentz<mailto:lcoblentz1008 at gmail.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2023 8:40 PM
> To: PPRAA Reflector<mailto:ppraanet at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: [PPRAANet] Amazon Smile
>
> Received a notice from Amazon  that they are ending the Amazon Smile
> program. My purchases were all generating donations to PPRAA, and will be
> ending.  Not sure how much the club was receiving from this program, but it
> appears that it will end.
>
> Larry - KB9VY
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-- 
73

Dennis Major, N0ABC
Laurel ARC VEC, Regional Coordinator #10 / Ø
(CO, IA, KS, MN, MO, ND, NE, SD)
Pikes Peak Radio Amateur Association VE Team