Amazon and Gary Sinise Foundation Announce New Multi-Year Partnership to Amplify Support of Our Nation's Veterans, Heroes, First Responders and Defenders

Three-year commitment from Amazon also includes employee volunteer hours at GSF events around the country, donations of Amazon Alexa devices and Amazon Fresh groceries to new smart homes being built for our Nation’s most wounded heroes and more.

Amazon sponsoring First Responder Appreciation Day on Saturday, May 6 in partnership with GSF, in Northern California with Country Star and Former Firefighter Tyler Braden, to honor those on the front lines protecting our communities & country.

Nashville, TN -- The Gary Sinise Foundation (GSF), which was established in 2011 under the philanthropic direction of award-winning actor and humanitarian Gary Sinise who has been a staunch supporter of veterans, first responders and defenders for more than 40 years, announced a new partnership with Amazon to amplify its ongoing efforts to support our Nation's veterans, heroes, first responders and defenders around the country. The Fortune 2 Company's new three-year strategic partnership with GSF includes $1 million per year with in-cash and in-kind donations.

Both organizations employ a significant number of veterans and first responders and are deeply committed to giving back to these heroes. And as the Gary Sinise Foundation recently moved their HQ to Nashville, Tennessee about one year ago to expand its reach, Amazon continues to support the military community across the nation.

"When I started the Foundation more than 12 years ago, my hope was to inspire Americans and business leaders around the country to do a little bit more for our Nation's heroes and those who serve and sacrifice so much in duty to their country and community," said Actor and Humanitarian Gary Sinise. "Not only is Amazon stepping up in a big way to show our gratitude to our Nation's heroes, but Amazon’s values of supporting these remarkable heroes align so well with our Foundation.  We are so thankful for their support, and we look forward to reaching even more veterans and first responders through this new partnership."

Kicking off the new partnership is a First Responder Appreciation Day Amazon is sponsoring for GSF on Saturday, May 6 at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California that is free and open to the public. First Responders Outreach, one of GSF’s programmatic pillars, provides resources and critical funding for emergency relief, training and essential equipment all around the country and is a way to show our gratitude for those on the front lines.  Through Amazon Music, Country Star Tyler Braden, who spent seven years as a firefighter on the front lines in Montgomery, Alabama and Brentwood, Tennessee, will provide the entertainment.  In addition, GSF will donate essential equipment to local police and fire departments from Sonoma to San Francisco along with food and fun for first responders and their families.

Other aspects of the partnership with Amazon to support a wide range of GSF programming includes:

• GSF R.I.S.E. Program, which builds brand new, specially adapted, mortgage free smart homes to help our Nation's wounded warriors, including veterans and first responders, regain their freedom and independence. Amazon will provide its Alexa-enabled devices and technology for voice control while also providing fresh produce for the recipient and their families through Amazon Fresh. 

• GSF Soaring Valor, which connects our World War II veterans with high school students to pass their history onto the next generation through shared experiences with trips to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.  Amazon will fully support a future trip, especially as the number of living World War II veterans continues to shrink each day.

• First Responder Appreciation Day - Amazon will host First Responder Appreciation Days as a show of gratitude for our heroic first responders on the front lines.

• Amazon will support more than 40 events around the country each year to support our veterans and first responders, including more than 2,000 volunteer hours at events such as GSF Snowball Express, which supports thousands of families of our fallen military heroes year-round through empowerment workshops and regional community events, culminating with an all-expenses paid, five-day experience at Walt Disney World Resort.

"Amazon is making a bold commitment to the Foundation and to veterans throughout the country," said Melissa Nick, Amazon VP of North American Customer Fulfillment Operations and one of the executive sponsors for this strategic partnership. "We know the Gary Sinise Foundation is uniquely situated to directly impact the lives of two of the most vulnerable categories of the military and first-responder communities-- the severely wounded and families of those lost in the line of duty.  Amazon is proud to honor these heroes by offering assistance for veterans and their families."

Other executive sponsors at Amazon of this three-year commitment include Dave Alperson, VP of Amazon Logistics, Sarah Rhoads, VP of Amazon Global Air, Joanne Rzeppa, VP of North America Sort Center Operations and Ari Silkey, Director of North America Surface Transportation.

"We couldn't be more thrilled with Amazon's commitment to our mission of serving our nation's severely wounded heroes and their families," said Donna Palmer, Executive Director of the Gary Sinise Foundation.  "We also support our nation's first responders -- these are people who run into danger within our communities.  From all of us at the Gary Sinise Foundation, and especially those we serve, thank you Amazon.  We are excited to uplift so many more lives together.”

In addition to supporting veterans around the country, supporting our military heroes is engraved in Amazon's culture with more than 50,000 veterans employed by the company and programs to support, enhance and grow their careers. From free skills training and tuition support programs to military mentoring and more, Amazon's commitment to active and retired service members have been widely acknowledged through various awards, including with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Prior to the partnership, Amazon has been supporting GSF events through in-kind donations and volunteer hours at GSF events around the country.