Today, Amazon announced an easy way for customers to donate a backpack full of school supplies via Alexa to a student in need.
Customers simply say, “Alexa, Donate to Happy School Year,” and they will be presented with a backpack offer from Amazon. After the customer confirms the order for donation, Amazon will fill the backpack with basic school supplies and ship it directly to Communities In Schools, the nation’s largest provider of in-school resources and support to students in need. Customers will be delighted by a thank you message from Shaquille O’Neal, a member of the Communities in Schools National Board. The curated list of basic school supplies include pencils, pens, a ruler and a notebook and are included within the backpack at no additional cost to the customer. For more information, please visit www.amazon.com/happyschoolyeardonate.
“Alexa creates convenient time savers for busy customers and their families whether they are building a back-to-school shopping list, asking questions about products, purchasing items for their family or making donations to the community,” said Chuck Moore, VP Alexa. “Alexa makes it easy for customers to brighten the start of the school year for children who need it most. Donating is simple – just say ‘Alexa, Donate to Happy School Year.’ We can’t wait to see the generosity of our customers this back-to-school season.”
Happy School Year Donation Events
To give more children the Happy School Year they deserve, Amazon is teaming up with Shaquille O’Neal and Zappos for Good to host back-to-school donation events throughout the summer. Shaq-to-School events will provide school supplies to 5,000 students in need, thanks to donations from Yoobi, Pentel, Hasbro, 3M, JVC, Panasonic and AmazonBasics.
“Education is an important foundation for success,” said O’Neal. “With the Shaq-to-School program, we provide classroom essentials to kids who need them most, allowing them to concentrate on their studies. Thanks to Amazon and Zappos, we’ll reach even more kids with our donations this year.”
Additionally, Amazon will team up with Ciara to host a Happy School Year block party later this summer, where guests can donate school supplies at an Alexa Donation Station. The event will celebrate the start of a new school year, encouraging students to set intentions for a Happy School Year and participate in activities like a healthy meal planning demonstration, backpack embroidery and sneaker customization.
Happy School Year Store
Amazon’s Happy School Year Store is a one stop shop for parents, students and teachers, with everything they need to go back-to-school prepared and in style. If you are planning to shop the store, be sure to check out AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile is a simple way for customers to support their favorite charity every time they shop with Amazon, at no extra cost. Customers who shop at smile.amazon.com will find the same Amazon they know and love, with the added bonus that AmazonSmile will donate a portion of the purchase price of eligible items to the charity they choose. Customers can select from over a million charities, including more than 150,000 eligible education-related charities like schools and PTA’s. To shop the store and learn more about opportunities to donate, customers can visit smile.amazon.com/happyschoolyear.
More ways to give back to students in need this back-to-school season:
Alexa Donations: Customers who wish to make a monetary donation to the charity of their choice can do so. Simply say, “Alexa, I want to make a donation” to get started.
Charity Lists: Customers can shop Charity Lists and easily donate items of need to charities. Charity Lists give non-profits an easy way to create lists while providing a convenient way for customers to donate needed items directly to the charity of their choice with the reassurance that the list is managed by the charity. Customers can shop thousands of Charity Lists by visiting smile.amazon.com/charitylists.
Zappos for Good Collection, Shaq edition: Limited edition hoodie by Psycho Bunny in support of the Communities in Schools program available at zappos.com.
Happy School Year Educator Events
Also, to support educators for the school year, Amazon Business provided a monetary donation to the Fresno Unified School District for their new robotics program and, in collaboration with the company’s local fulfillment center employees, is revamping STEM classrooms at four elementary schools in Virginia’s Petersburg School District with a fresh look and all new supplies to better enable learning. All educators can take advantage of savings on hundreds of millions of items by visiting amazon.com/educatorshappyschoolyear.
