Bumbershoot Festival, Amazon partner to tackle food insecurity

SEATTLE — Bumbershoot Arts & Music Festival and Amazon have partnered on the “Bumbershoot Gives Back, Powered by Amazon” initiative, setting out to tackle food insecurity in Seattle and mobilize thousands of community volunteers.

The initiative plans to donate 90,000 pounds of food to local food banks and connect fans with volunteer opportunities to directly improve their communities by offering free Bumbershoot tickets and exclusive merchandise. Organizers say 2,000 two-day festival tickets will be available to those who dedicate their time.

Details of the partnership were unveiled at the Asian Counseling & Referral Service’s (ACRS) Food Bank in the Chinatown-International District on Wednesday. At the kickoff, an Amazon delivery car containing an initial donation of 30,000 pounds of food was unloaded by Amazon volunteers.

“We’re proud of our investments across Seattle and the Puget Sound region over the last 30 years, and as we continue to grow, so does our responsibility to the places where we live and work,” said David Zapolsky, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy and General Counsel for Amazon. “Amazon is committed to working with our partners to find creative solutions that empower our community.”

This program is an effort by both organizations to combat food insecurity in Western Washington, an issue affecting over 1.5 million people in the region. Bumbershoot also announced plans to launch a virtual food drive, organized by the nonprofit, Conscious Alliance, a hunger relief organization, where a limited edition poster will be available by donation before and at the festival, with each donation providing 80 meals contributing toward the program.

“Bumbershoot Gives Back is yet another example of how Bumbershoot is showing up for our community by using our influence to impact change,” said Camilla Walter, Executive Director of Third Stone, Bumbershoot’s nonprofit arm. “We thank Amazon for its continued support of Bumbershoot and are excited to partner again with a renewed focus on addressing the issue of food insecurity in our region.”

Bumbershoot Arts & Music Festival will be held at the Seattle Center from August 31 to September 1.

To learn more, volunteer yourself, donate to the cause, or buy tickets, check out bumbershoot.com/givesback.

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