Amazon Founder, Bezos Donates $123 m To Homeless Families In US

For the fifth year in a row, Jeff Bezos is looking to help the homeless ahead of the holidays.

The Amazon founder, 58, announced Tuesday on Instagram that his Day 1 Families Fund has offered grants to 40 "incredible groups" currently working to end homelessness in the United States.

In total, $123.45 million in "leadership awards" will be given away to groups in 26 states and Puerto Rico, according to a press release from the Fund.

The funds will go toward helping families "move from unsheltered homelessness and shelters to permanent housing with the services they require to achieve stability," the release says.

This year's round of grants are going to organizations such as The Salvation Army's Denver Metro Area division, Hope House of Milwaukee, Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona and L.A. Family Housing.

The fund has also donated $600,000 to Mother Nation: Honoring the Beauty and Strength of Native Families, a Seattle-based non-profit that offers "culturally informed healing services, advocacy, mentorship and homeless prevention" in Washington, where he primarily lives.

Bezos said he is "honored to support these groups" in Tuesday's announcement on social media.

"In five years, we've given more than $500 million to 167 [organizations] helping expand their support of families in need," the billionaire wrote on Instagram.

Bezos' donations come a week after he told CNN that he plans to give away most of his current $124 billion fortune in his lifetime. He said he plans to primarily focus on fighting climate change and supporting others who can help improve the deep divide over social and political issues.

Earlier this month, Bezos awarded $100 million to singer Dolly Parton for earning this year's Bezos Courage and Civility Award. "What she's done for kids, for illiteracy and so many other things — is just incredible," the billionaire announced in a social media video.

Back in 2020, Bezos revealed the Bezos Earth Fund with plans to provide $10 billion to scientists and organizations who are working to save the planet from the effects of rising global temperatures.

November 23, 2022