SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20, 2005--What: Just 10 days remain to donate money to the Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award finalists, which are vying for up to a $1 million matching grant from Amazon. The contest ends September 30, and is designed to recognize and reward nonprofit organizations that use innovative solutions to improve local communities and the world at large. More than $800,000 has been donated thus far and each finalist will receive all of the donations it has generated on Amazon.com.

In addition to their existing innovative efforts, many of the finalist organizations are using creative approaches to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina -- here are just a few examples:

-- Community Voice Mail is operating a specialized "Disaster Relief System" that is providing 120,000 free voice mail numbers to evacuees and survivors of Hurricane Katrina to help them reconnect and rebuild their lives;

-- DonorsChoose has created "Classroom Care Packages" to provide resources for students affected by Hurricane Katrina;

-- First Book has launched "Book Relief," an initiative providing millions of books to children, adults, schools, and literacy programs affected by Hurricane Katrina. Every $0.50 donated sponsors a new book;

-- Teach For America is working to re-deploy the corps members who would have taught in New Orleans as "emergency corps" in Houston and Southern Louisiana so that they can continue to serve the New Orleans students they were teaching.

Amazon, in partnership with the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a panel of expert advisors, selected the 10 finalists. The finalists are currently raising funds and awareness for their programs directly on the Amazon.com Web site (www.amazon.com), where customers can contribute to their favorite nonprofit finalist.

In addition to the Innovation Award, Amazon.com recently collected more than $12.5 million in online donations to the American Red Cross and donated tens of thousands of relief supplies to the Salvation Army to help with their Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

How it works:

-- The finalist organization that receives the most in contributions by September 30 will be named the winner of the Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award.

-- A matching grant of up to $1 million from Amazon will be awarded to the winner in October 2005.

-- Each of the finalist organizations will receive the donations they generated throughout the program.

Who: The Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award Finalists vying for the number one spot are:

-- Appalachian Sustainable Development (Abingdon, VA) -- ASD builds self reliant, ecologically sustainable communities in Central Appalachia by providing training and market access for farmers and other limited resource entrepreneurs, and by linking them to consumers.

-- Community Voice Mail (Seattle, WA) -- Community Voice Mail provides free, 24-hour nationwide voicemail to people in crisis -- connecting them to jobs, housing and hope -- a deceptively simple concept with extraordinary impact.

-- DonorsChoose (New York, NY) - DonorsChoose is an online marketplace where teachers and concerned individuals connect to give students the resources they need to learn.

-- EARN (San Francisco, CA) -- EARN offers breakthrough financial tools that open the door to economic opportunity for the working poor in California, providing a model for ending the cycle of poverty on a national and global scale.

-- First Book (Washington, DC) -- First Book is a nationally-recognized nonprofit that puts high-quality, new books into the hands of children from low-income families.

-- KaBOOM! (Washington, DC) -- By bringing together community leaders, parents and volunteers, KaBOOM! seeks to create a great play space within walking distance of every child in America.

-- KickStart (San Francisco, CA) -- KickStart provides a proven solution to poverty in Africa by focusing on economic empowerment rather than traditional aid.

-- Pact, Inc.'s WORTH program (Washington, DC) -- Pact's WORTH program drives gender equality and women's economic empowerment worldwide through a unique combination of literacy training, women-owned village banks and micro-enterprise creation.

-- PATH (Seattle, WA) -- PATH is a catalyst for global health, creating sustainable, culturally relevant solutions that enable communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health.

-- Teach For America (New York, NY) -- Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates from all academic majors who fight educational inequity by teaching in urban and rural public schools and becoming lifelong leaders for change.

Interviews Available: For Amazon.com, contact Sally Fouts at 206-505-8390 or sfouts@mww.com

About Amazon.com: Amazon.com, Inc., (Nasdaq:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as beauty, health and personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food, sports and outdoors, apparel and accessories, books, music, DVDs, electronics and office, toys and baby, and home and garden.

Amazon.com and its affiliates operate seven retail Web sites: www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com.

As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to potential future losses, significant amount of indebtedness, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions, and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, consumer trends, inventory, limited operating history, government regulation and taxation, fraud, and new business areas. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, and all subsequent filings.

CONTACT: For Amazon.com
Sally Fouts, 206-505-8390
sfouts@mww.com

SOURCE: Amazon.com