Amazon Donates $2 Million to Alliance for Education to Create "Right Now Needs Fund" to Help Students in Seattle
October 15 2018 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Fund will address urgent needs of students in
all Seattle Public Schools, with resources targeted to schools with
the greatest needs
Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) today announced a $2 million grant to the
Alliance for Education to create the “Right Now Needs Fund” to help
meet the urgent and basic needs of students attending Seattle
Public Schools. This money is meant to be flexible and could be
used to purchase a needed raincoat or school supplies, or to
provide food in backpacks to feed students over a long weekend.
“At least a third of the students in Seattle Public Schools are
impacted by poverty, and they are present in all of our 103
schools. The opportunity gap facing children from low income
families has been a persistent problem in our community, and it is
widening,” said Lisa Chick, President and CEO at the Alliance for
Education. “We are grateful for Amazon’s generosity and
understanding that to be successful in education we need to support
the basic needs of children. These funds will help us directly
address closing the opportunity gap in Seattle.”
“We work hard at Aki Kurose to make sure all our kids have what
they need to be ready to learn, but the need is far greater than
the resources we have available,” said Dr. Mia Williams, Principal
at Aki Kurose Middle School. “This fund puts an incredible tool in
our hands to solve problems and set my students up for success. I
couldn’t be more excited about what this means to my
community.”
Low-income students, including students experiencing
homelessness, are concentrated in Seattle’s 31 “Title 1” schools.
However, 18,300 children receive free and reduced lunch across all
Seattle Public Schools. Students whose basic needs are not met
often struggle to learn.
“The Alliance for Education has a track record of administering
on-the-ground programs that effectively support success for
students and teachers,” said David Zapolsky, Amazon SVP &
General Counsel and Alliance for Education board member. “We worked
hard with the Alliance to create a flexible source of funding so
each school can quickly decide how to best serve their
students.”
The Right Now Needs Fund will help principals, teachers, and
parents collaborate to remove students’ most basic barriers to
learning in all Seattle Public Schools during the 2018-19 and
2019-20 school years. Spread over the next two years, Amazon will
grant $2 million to the Alliance for Education to serve as the
administrator of the funds for all Seattle Public Schools. The
Alliance will disburse the funds to schools according to student
needs, and higher poverty schools will receive more support. The
only stipulation of the fund is that it must directly benefit
students and not replace currently budgeted items.
“I’m inspired by this city’s strong commitment to public
education – everyone wants our students to succeed. I have
also been troubled by the significant challenges many of our
students face in their daily lives,” said Seattle Public Schools
Superintendent Denise Juneau. “The Amazon contribution is designed
to address those challenges by supporting students’ basic needs and
removing barriers to learning. This generous and meaningful
support, with the Alliance for Education’s stewardship, will help
make sure students can focus on their education. We are so
appreciative of this gift to our student community.”
Both the Alliance for Education and Amazon are committed to
education and addressing urgent needs that prevent students from
learning. The Alliance for Education is Seattle’s local education
fund, and works in close partnership with Seattle Public Schools
and other education stakeholders to create programs and raise funds
designed to close opportunity gaps in Seattle’s public school
system. Amazon supports STEM and computer science education and
programs that address childhood hunger and family homelessness.
Amazon is a proud donor to the Families Yes campaign in support of
the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy on the ballot
November 6.
“These resources will complement existing school funding and
help to close the opportunity gap,” said former Seattle Mayor
Norman Rice. “There’s nothing more important than making sure our
students are safe, healthy and ready to learn – I’m delighted that
Amazon is making this investment in the future.”
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather
than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to
operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews,
1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment
by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets,
Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and
services pioneered by Amazon. For more information,
visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
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