Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has announced a donation of USD 100 million to food banks across the U.S. The gesture comes as the country struggles with a rising cases of Coronavirus patients and the corresponding crippling effect on its economy.
The charity was announced by Bezos through an Instagram post on Thursday. He notices "Even in ordinary times, food insecurity in American households is an important problem, and unfortunately COVID-19 is amplifying that stress significantly," in his post.
So in order to fight the situation and help those in need,?Bezos?made a USD 100 million donation to Feeding America, the country¡¯s second largest charity by revenue, as per a Forbes list.
With USD 2.9 billion generated in revenue in 2019, the non-profit organization is responsible for feeding 46 million people through its Chicago-based network of more than 200 food banks.
Bezos¡¯ donation marks the largest charity ever in Feeding America's history, as confirmed by the CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot. "We are deeply grateful for Jeff Bezos's generous $100 million contribution to Feeding America's COVID-19 Response Fund," the CEO said in a statement. "Countless lives will be changed because of his generosity."
While Bezos donates for those in need during the ongoing health crisis in the country, his company Amazon was recently in the limelight for firing an employee right after he organised a protest at one of its warehouses.
Chris Smalls, who now wants to take legal action against the company over "wrongful termination," was fired by the company citing health and safety concerns.?
Amazon claimed that Smalls had regularly violated the social distancing norm in place and had even come in contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 and was asked to remain home with pay for 14-days. He violated this and visited the factory on March 30 putting everyone at risk.
Smalls, on the other hand, says that his termination was following a worker walkout and protest organised by him outside the Staten Island facility.?
The protest was directed towards the lack of precautions that the company was taking in a region severely hit by the virus outbreak. New York City Commission on Human Rights has now launched an investigation on the case.