Supporting Our Communities

Community Giving Near Our Offices and Stores

We are proud to invest in the neighborhoods near our Stores, offices, and distribution centers because they are home to our Associates and Customers.

Through strategic grantmaking programs and local partnerships, we aim to uplift youth by promoting academic achievement and essential life skills, particularly among those from underserved backgrounds.

Grant Programs

With two main grant programs, we provide direct support to nonprofits that align with our mission to empower young people through education and life skill development.

Regional Giving Program

Through the Regional Giving Program, Ross invests in organizations near our Corporate and Buying Offices in California and our distribution centers by awarding grants of $10,000, $20,000, or $30,000. Our goal is to support a wide range of partners that strongly align with our mission to advance educational outcomes and life skills development for socioeconomically disadvantaged youth, ages 3 to 24.

In 2024, our cross-functional grant selection committee helped us determine the 45 recipients who received a total of $1.1 million across three grant cycles in the year. These grants fueled initiatives that prepare youth for bright futures including programs focused on literacy, STEM, mentoring, leadership, youth entrepreneurship, after-school enrichment, college and career preparation, and more.

During the year, we further developed our partnerships with several grantees by arranging for Associate volunteer support. Examples of grantee volunteer efforts included coaching and judging student entrepreneurship plans with Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, assembling science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) kits for Scientific Adventures for Girls, cleaning and repairing books with Think Together, and hosting reading events with local partners for Jumpstart’s Annual Read for the Record initiative.

Please go to our Regional Giving Guidelines for more information.

Store-Based Giving Program

Through the Store-Based Giving Program, we strengthen the community connection in our Stores by awarding gift cards to nonprofit organizations, schools, and government programs within 25 miles of a Ross Dress for Less or dd’s DISCOUNTS Store.

In the summer of 2024, we revised and relaunched the Store-Based Giving Program to deepen our impact by focusing on helping young people in our communities dress for a bright future. Organizations can apply for Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS gift cards, which they use to purchase school or professional clothing for socioeconomically disadvantaged youth.

As part of our new strategy, we increased the size of our gift card donations so that our partners could reach more youth. In 2024, after relaunching the program, we donated a total of over $320,000 to over 640 different organizations in 37 states across the country.

Please go to our Store-Based Giving Guidelines for more information.

Local Partnerships

In addition to our grantmaking, Ross builds hands-on partnerships near our offices and distribution centers. These partnerships combine financial support, volunteerism, and product donations to address local needs in our major areas of operation.

Buying Offices

Ross proudly supports a variety of fashion and community support organizations near our Buying Offices in New York and Los Angeles. Our 2024 efforts focused on education, youth support, and sustainability:

  • We invested in the next generation of fashion professionals and helped students pursue their career goals by offering internships and scholarships through the Fashion Scholarship Fund.
  • In partnership with Good+Foundation and Educational Alliance, we strengthened our commitment to helping youth thrive. In addition to annual grants, our Associates engaged with these partners by volunteering to help with homework and assemble supply kits for families with young children and contributing books, school supplies, food, and clothing during seasonal collection drives.
  • Aligned with our goal to reduce our environmental impact, our Buying Offices donated shoes, clothing, home good samples, and even textile remnants to local nonprofit partners. In one example, we donated more than 1,600 pounds of fabric waste to FABSCRAP, a nonprofit that redirects and recycles textiles, allowing us to avoid the landfill and save 12 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Corporate Office

Ross has deep roots in the San Francisco Bay Area where our Company was founded over 40 years ago. For many years, we have focused our support in the area on youth literacy, recognizing its importance as a foundation for academic success, opportunity, and brighter futures.

  • Golden State Warriors Read to Achieve Program: We have teamed up with the Warriors for more than two decades to make a difference in the lives of young readers across the Bay Area by bringing literacy events to elementary students. In 2024, as the presenting sponsor of Read to Achieve, we supported a reading program at local schools that brought Warriors alumni to campus for reading rallies and the team’s staff members to classrooms for book readings, as well as the refurbishment of a school library. Additionally, we hosted Read to Achieve Night at a Warriors game where participating students got to watch the team in action, and fans could participate in a book drive to collect new reading materials for students.
  • Bay Football Club (Bay FC) Summer Reading Program: In 2024, Ross began an exciting new partnership with Bay FC during their inaugural season as the professional soccer franchise representing the Bay Area in the National Women’s Soccer League. We partnered together to further youth education and literacy in the Bay Area by supporting public library summer reading programs, organizing a book drive, bringing summer reading participants out to a match, and hosting player-led story times at select library branches. We are excited about the collaboration and connection between students and athlete role models who share the importance of education and love for reading.

Distribution Centers

Our distribution centers are essential to our operations, serving as key hubs for logistical efficiency and inventory management.

  • As part of our efforts to reduce waste, our Supply Chain teams arranged for donation of excess inventory to a network of charitable partners across the country. Many donations were distributed through Good360, which helped us place these products with organizations transforming the lives of individuals and families in communities in need.
  • In 2024, Associates in our distribution centers also supported community partners through volunteer events and collection drives, including a food drive for a local Boys & Girls Club and a winter clothing drive for individuals in storm-impacted areas.