PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Ascend Foundation and Amazon are partnering to host their third Christmas in November free shopping event for community members in need this Sunday in Pontiac.
“Our goal is to show appreciation for Pontiac residents by offering a meaningful way to begin the holiday season. I really appreciate Amazon consistently laying out the blueprint of what philanthropy should look like when a corporate giant anchors down in a community," said Kaino Phillips, president and CEO of The Ascend Foundation.
Hear more from Kaino Phillips in the video player below:
Families attending will have access to clothing, tools, household items, electronics, toys and more. Each guest over the age of 10 will receive eight ticket, which serve as currency to purchase items of varying prices spread throughout the event.
Amazon donated $2 million worth of product to make it happen.
“It’s so important to leverage our scale for good to give people access to essential items where we operate. We’re proud to partner with Ascend, and we hope to provide this community with the tools to have a lasting, positive impact,” said Torre Brown, Amazon senior operations manager.
Brown and Phillips are both from the Pontiac area. It's a community that Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel says can really use the support.
“Pontiac is a high-need community. We have a number of low- to moderate-income families that really need this kind of support, and we're so grateful for Amazon's generosity," Greimel said. “It really is a major uplifting moment for Pontiac families.”
The event helps residents like Kamisha Williams-Osborne, a Pontiac mom whose family lost everything in a fire in 2021. Months later, The Ascend Foundation hosted the first event. This will be her family's third year going.
"That organization helped me, build me and put a smile on my kids face and my family," Williams-Osborne said.
The Ascend Foundation was started in honor of Phillip's dad, former Pontiac Mayor Clarence E. Phillips.
His political background includes being a John F. Kennedy alumnus at Harvard University, being elected to the Pontiac City Council three times, serving three years as president of the Pontiac City Council and serving 14 years serving on the city of Pontiac Planning Commission.
He was elected three times to the Michigan House of Representatives, where he served on the House Appropriations Committee. In 2005, he was elected mayor of the city of Pontiac, where he served until 2009.
"I appreciate Amazon doing what I think corporations need to do a lot more of — you come into a community to make money off of individuals in a community, you need to figure out a good way to philanthropically give back to those, and that’s what Amazon is doing,” Phillips said.
Doors to the event open at 3 p.m. at the Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency
at 196 Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in Pontiac.
The initiative is part of a larger commitment Amazon has to uplift and support families and individuals in the Michigan area. Amazon says it has invested more than $15 billion in Michigan, since 2010, and created more than 24,000 jobs in its operations, logistics, corporate and technology functions.
