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IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Trustees of the Mazda Foundation (USA) Inc., has awarded $450,000 to four organizations as part of the foundation's yearly grant giving. The grants will serve communities in Southern California and the greater Huntsville, Alabama, area.

Grants were awarded to Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County (Irvine, CA), the Food Bank of North Alabama (Huntsville, AL), FUSE Studio (funding a program in Southern California), and AVID Center (funding a program in Madison, AL).

The awards follow the Mazda Foundation's guiding principle that what matters most is one another. Together, they seek to address not only the result of poverty, but also some of its many causes.

"The awards we're announcing today address challenges that too many Americans face," said Jeff Guyton, president of Mazda North American Operations and chairman of the Mazda Foundation (USA), Inc. "Those challenges range from basic food security to equal access to the building blocks of education. Everyone needs these fundamentals in order to thrive."

The grants to the food banks aim to increase the delivery of food to families in need at a time that demand has skyrocketed, with recent estimates placing that increase at +60% since March 2020. The award to FUSE will fund STEM coursework for several underserved middle schools, and the award to AVID will ensure underserved students have the opportunity not only to be admitted to college, but to succeed once they arrive.

About Mazda Foundation (USA), Inc.

As the corporate foundation of Mazda North American Operations (MNAO), the Mazda Foundation has donated more than $13 million to children's organizations, educational scholarships, food banks, environmental programs, and disaster relief efforts since 1992. To learn more about the Mazda Foundation, please visit www.mazdafoundation.org.

SOURCE Mazda Foundation (USA), Inc.