AWH Reaches $1M Milestone in Contributions to Last Prisoner Project

Will continue matching customer donations past original $500,000 commitment

NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2021 /CNW/ - Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. ("AWH" or the "Company") (CSE: AAWH.U) (OTCQX: AAWH), a multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis operator, today announced it has reached a major milestone of $1 million in total contributions to Last Prisoner Project ("LPP"), a nonprofit organization dedicated to clemency and expungement, re-entry programs and advocacy for individuals with cannabis convictions, through a customer donation program and company match of $500,000.

In July 2020, AWH announced its first initiative to raise a total of $250,000 for LPP within one year of launch via customer donations and a company match of $125,000. After achieving its commitment five months early in February 2021, AWH doubled its original commitment, pledging to raise an additional $500,000 by July 2022 through a similar customer donation and company match program. One year since the program's official launch, AWH has exceeded its $750,000 total commitment to date by 34%. AWH will not cap the initiative at $1 million but will continue its customer donation program at all Ascend locations, including a company match for each dollar donated.

"We are proud to have reached such an exciting and impactful milestone of $1 million raised for Last Prisoner Project, and I'd like to thank our customers for their generosity in helping us get here," said Abner Kurtin, CEO and Founder of AWH. "As a cannabis operator that legally cultivates and sells the very same plant that has caused Black and brown individuals to be disproportionately imprisoned, it is essential that we do as much as possible in our power to correct such injustice. That's why we will continue our program and our company match beyond our achievements to date."

As a leading multi-state operator (MSO) in the cannabis industry, AWH is committed to cannabis criminalization reform and rectifying the injustices inflicted upon those incarcerated for cannabis-related activities. AWH is the only MSO to match customer donations in support of Last Prisoner Project. AWH CEO and Founder Abner Kurtin has also personally donated $50,000 to LPP.

SOURCE Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc.

AWH Media Contact: MATTIO Communications, Mel Trecha, [phone], [email protected]; AWH Investor Contact: Rebecca Koar, [phone] ext. 90102, [email protected]