(KTNV) — Amazon announced on Wednesday that the AmazonSmile, the retailer's charity donation program, will be shut down on Feb. 20.
AmazonSmile was initially launched as a way for Amazon shoppers to donate a percentage of eligible purchases to a charity organization of the shopper's choice.
In a press release to customers, company officials said that the program's resources were spread too thin and "the program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped."
To help the charities involved in AmazonSmile, Amazon says it will be providing them with "a one-time donation equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022 through the program." Additionally, the eligible charities will continue to be able to receive donations until the program officially shuts down in Feb. 2023.
The company says it will also continue to support a variety of other charity organizations, including the Housing Equity Fund, to which they are giving $2 Billion to build affordable housing; the Amazon Future Engineer, which provided computer science curriculums to over 600,000 students in over 5,000 schools; and the Amazon Disaster Relief Fund, which helps provide fast aid to communities affected by natural disasters.
"We will continue to pursue and invest in other areas where we’ve seen we can make meaningful change," the release said. "...From building affordable housing to providing access to computer science education for students in underserved communities to using our logistics infrastructure and technology to assist broad communities impacted by natural disasters."
