Bezos gives $5 million to help Portland homeless families

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — the world’s richest person — has given $5 million to a Portland nonprofit that helps homeless families get into their own homes.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the donation to the nonprofit JOIN is the largest individual donor in the organization’s 26-year history.

Bezos said this week that he was giving away a total of $97.5 million to two dozen organizations across the country.

Other recipients in the Pacific Northwest are in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington.

In Portland, the donation will be spread out over four years and will be a big boost to JOIN’s roughly $6.5 million budget.

The number of homeless people in Portland has increased 10 percent in the past two years.

Eighty people died on the streets in 2017.

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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com