In Europe, Amazon has committed €21 million to support those who are the most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. This includes donations totaling €12.5 million to local Red Cross organizations in the UK, Germany, France and Spain, and the Civil Protection Department in Italy. In addition to this, each country has also allocated €1 million to donate to local non-profit organizations in the communities where Amazon employees live and work.
Amazon is also donating €3.5 million to non-profit organizations in Poland, Turkey, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Austria, including the Red Cross.
Amazon has also launched donation buttons on its websites across Europe to help customers easily donate to relief efforts if they choose to do so.
These donations are in addition to existing work Amazon and its employees have been doing across Europe. For example, in Spain, Amazon has launched a series of free webinars on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) topics and creative coding for primary and secondary teachers in collaboration with FormaRobotik. In Italy, Amazon donated thousands of protective items, such as suits, gloves and masks to the Civil Protection Department for hospitals operating in the most affected areas in Lombardy, as well as Prime Now two-hour deliveries in some cities without additional costs. And in the UK, Amazon has announced a partnership with the government to help deliver test kits to frontline employees.
Amazon also recently launched the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative to support the research and development of diagnostics, which consist of rapid, accurate detection and testing of COVID-19 – as better diagnostics will help accelerate treatment and containment, and in time, shorten the course of this pandemic. The program is there to support people who are working to bring better, more accurate, diagnostics solutions to market faster and promote better collaboration across organizations that are working on similar problems. As part of this, Amazon committed an initial investment of $20 million to accelerate diagnostic research, innovation, and development to speed our collective understanding and detection of COVID-19 and other innovative diagnostic solutions to mitigate future infectious disease outbreaks.
Learn more about what Amazon is doing to support those affected by this crisis.
