Employees at Turlock’s Amazon fulfillment center — as well as those across the nation — took time out of their schedules to show their support for wounded veterans.
Amazon employees engaged in a fundraising campaign in the days leading up to Veterans Day to support the Wounded Warrior Project.
The “Making a World of Difference” fundraiser allowed employees to keep track of their running miles or their hours of volunteer service. The fulfillment center logging the most employee miles (volunteer hours included) would win the grand prize and get to present a $50,000 check, donated by Amazon, to the Wounded Warriors Project on March 12 in San Diego.
The goal was to log 24,901 miles – enough to circle the globe. The 2,013 participants totaled 42,182 miles.
Despite the company's hectic schedule before the holiday season, all 79 fulfillment sites participated in the campaign, with the ONT9 fulfillment center in Moreno Valley winning the grand prize. Amazon’s MCE1 fulfillment center in Turlock took fourth place nationwide, with 94 runners participating and more than 1,800 miles logged.
The campaign also helped support Wear Blue, an organization that honors veterans and their families through running events.
Amazon currently employs more than 40,000 veterans and military spouses across multiple businesses and is committed to hiring 100,000 veterans and military spouses by 2024.
Craig Norris, the general manager at Amazon’s MCE1 fulfillment center in Turlock, was instrumental in organizing the event.
“Amazon invests in supporting veterans and their families. In addition to our commitment to hire veterans and help transition them back into civilian life, we work to find ways to support veterans within our local communities," said Norris, whose father was a member the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Vietnam. "We are grateful to partner with Wounded Warrior Project this year to create a fun and impactful way for our employees to participate and show support for veterans across our operations throughout the country.”
Norris said that talks are already underway for another event this year.
“We were really excited to see the turnout,” said Norris. “It was just amazing. We’re looking at different non-profit organizations who want to partner with us. We definitely want to build on what we started.”
Since 2003, WWP has helped been helping meet the needs of military families and their caregivers.
“We're deeply grateful to Amazon and their incredible teams behind this fundraising initiative,” said Wally Edwards, corporate partnerships director for WWP. “Their support not only impacts the lives of veterans and their families but also fuels the heart of Wounded Warrior Project. Supporters like Amazon allow us to be there for wounded warriors, now and in the future.”
