Amazon is donating hundreds of thousands of needed items such as socks, blankets and canned food to hundreds of U.S. charities that created wish lists on the company’s site, and giving five organizations working on homelessness $1 million each.
It said Tuesday the giving program is based on the AmazonSmile Charity Lists that the company introduced a year ago, allowing verified nonprofits to make wish lists of needed items that Amazon customers can order. Another program running since 2013 channels 0.5 percent of the price of items purchased on the site to a customer’s chosen nonprofit.
This year Amazon said it is donating large quantities of items itself. The company would not disclose the value of the donations, nor provide a full list of recipients.
