Amazon Founder Donates Stock Valued at More Than $500,000 to Feed My Sheep

Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos has donated stock valued at over $500,000 to Feed My Sheep, a mobile food pantry serving Maui island-wide. Representatives of the donor expressed his affinity for the Maui community and a strong desire to support food security as motivation for the gift.

Feed My Sheep is a 501 (c)3, nonprofit organization founded on Maui in 1999 by Joyce Kawakami. The organization has grown from serving a hand full of families from the trunk of Kawakami’s car to assisting more than 10,000 unduplicated individuals in 2020. Feed My Sheep is available to households at or near the poverty line through four weekly distributions in Lahaina, Wailuku, Kahului and Kīhei along with a monthly distribution in Hāna.

“This is amazing and such and incredible blessing,” said Founder Joyce Kawakami.

“This gift was a shocking surprise in the best possible way,” said Feed My Sheep Executive Director, Scott Hopkins. “We’ve been focused on the people in need and very grateful for the donations, volunteers and community support which have sustained Feed My Sheep through the hardest parts of this crisis. This contribution helps us look to the future and not only prepare for the worst, but also plan for the best ways to help those in poverty on Maui.”

Information about Feed My Sheep including mobile food distributions locations and how to volunteer can be found at feedmysheepmaui.com.

Monetary donations of unspecified amounts were also gifted by Jeff Bezos to Grow Some Good, Habitat for Humanity Maui, Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Centers, Mālama Family Recovery Center, the Hawaiʻi Land Trust, the Friends of the Children’s Justice Center and The Maui Farm.