Amazon CEO and billionaire worth 163.8 billion Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie Bezos launched a $2 billion fund to help homeless families and create nonprofit preschools in low-income communities.
According to a Bloomberg article by Molly Schuetz, the Bezos Day One Fund will be used to fund existing nonprofits and give out annual awards to organizations doing “compassionate, needle-moving work” to fill the needs of young families, as well as operating full-scholarship, Montessori-esque preschools.
“We’ll use the same set of principles that have driven Amazon,” Bezos said in a statement. “Most important among those will be genuine, intense customer obsession. The child will be the customer.”
This is by all accounts Bezos’ biggest move in the philanthropy world and one of the largest single donations ever given for preschools, according to the article.
It is important to note that earlier this year, Seattle’s City Council repealed an employee head tax under pressure from Amazon and other large employees in the booming city. This tax would have funded housing and services for the homeless.
According to Bloomberg’s report, Amazon insists it is “deeply commited” to tackling homelessness and will continue to invest in local nonprofits that work with the homeless.
