A blog post on Mary’s Placeweb site says the Amazon CEO had reached out to the organization Saturday morning with a “One Day Match Challenge” for donations received on Tuesday, the day the non-profit holds its spring fund raising luncheon.
Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos has promised to match up to $1 million in donations made Tuesday to Mary’s Place, a nonprofit focusing on homeless women that is running a shelter for families in a building provided by the tech and retail giant.
A blog post on Mary’s Place website said Bezos had reached out to the organization Saturday morning with a “One Day Match Challenge” for donations received on Tuesday, the day the nonprofit holds its spring fund raising luncheon.
Bezos’s offer means Mary’s Place could raise up to $2 million in a single day. Last month, the nonprofit began operating a homeless shelter for families in an old Travelodge building owned by Amazon; the shelter will remain in place for a year before construction starts on the lot.
The company cast the move as a response to the state of emergency declared by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray to address soaring homelessness. But it’s also a sign of how Amazon, a company often perceived as stand-offish, is taking a more active role in its hometown’s civic affairs.