A Belfast food bank has received a donation of £12,000 from Amazon.
Foodstock, based in west Belfast, is a community solidarity organisation offering support to those in need across the city. The charity offers a number of support services including emergency food parcels, a community café and cooking demonstrations. Foodstock also offers employment and benefits advice, and English language classes for refugees.
Since January 2023, Amazon has supported Foodstock through its pro-bono logistics programme, Amazon Local Good. Each week, Amazon transports essential food items to people in need and has delivered more than 60,000 food parcels across Belfast.
The charity recently hosted the Foodstock Festival, which happened in Mandela Hall, and featured music and comedy headliners including Simon Fowler and Oscar Harrison from Ocean Colour Scene. The free event was arranged to encourage the community to come together and support local foodbanks across the city, with guests asked to bring non-perishable food items to donate.
20 members of the Amazon team also volunteered at the Foodstock Festival and transported the food donations to the charity’s warehouse, before they are distributed to people in need in the local community.
Jim Press, Senior Delivery Station Manager at the Amazon Delivery Station in Belfast, said: “We are proud to make this donation to Foodstock and to continue building our relationship with its team.
“Foodstock offers a number of fantastic support services to those in need across Belfast and we hope this donation helps the team continue in their efforts.
“Our team also enjoyed lending a helping hand at the Foodstock Festival, which was such a great event to bring the community together.”
Foodstock founder and Belfast City councillor Paul Doherty, added: “Thank you to Jim and the team at Amazon for this donation and for their continued support in delivering essential items.
“With one-in-five children living in poverty and one-in-ten households struggling to afford basic items in Northern Ireland, we’re seeing increased numbers of people needing our services. I would encourage anyone in need of support to get in touch.”
Community donations and employee volunteering are just two of the ways Amazon supports the communities where it operates. Amazon co-founded the Multibank initiative with former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to support families in need.
The initiative has donated more than 4 million surplus goods to over 400,000 families across Scotland, Wales, Greater Manchester, and London.
Amazon has supported more than 700,000 students across the UK with free STEM education programmes through Amazon Future Engineer and helps community organisations transport meals and other essentials to families in need through its pro bono logistics programme, Amazon Local Good.
Amazon partners with Comic Relief and is the official home of the charity’s iconic Red Nose. Together with its employees, customers, and partners, Amazon has raised over £4.8 million to fund projects that support people across the UK, and around the world.
