Building on the success of its 2024 National Foster Care Awareness Month campaign, Rize CU is expanding its partnership with Comfort Cases and Barely Canadian to provide ongoing support for youth in foster care.

What began as a one-month initiative — donating a Comfort Cases backpack and Barely Canadian hoodie for every new account opened — has since evolved into a year-round program, where every youth in foster care who opens a bank account with Rize receives a Comfort Cases and a Barely Canadian hoodie. This is a heartfelt welcome gift into the Rize CU family.

Rize is also enhancing its 24-month Impact Certificate, which earns members a 3-percent annual percentage yield (APY), while the credit union donates an additional 2 percent to foster care initiatives.

Rize will resume last year’s National Foster Care Awareness Month campaign during May as well. For every new account opened through rizecu.com/makeadifference, the credit union will donate a Comfort Case and Barely Canadian hoodie to youth in foster care. As a result of the original campaign, Rize donated 1,000 Comfort Cases and Barely Canadian hoodies directly to youth in foster care in Southern California and Southern Nevada.

This expanded partnership strengthens Rize’s support of youth in foster care, which also includes a partnership with Los Angeles County for their Youth Access Banking program. The program allows youth in foster care as young as 13 years old to open their own checking and savings accounts without an adult co-owner, with Rize providing an initial $5 deposit to establish the savings account.

“Partnerships like these are at the heart of our mission to not only uplift our members but also the larger communities around us,” said Jennifer Oliver, CEO of Rize CU. “We believe that when each community member is valued and treated with dignity and respect, we can secure better futures for all.  Barely Canadian and Comfort Cases share this vision, making it an easy decision to expand our work together.”

There are approximately 368,000 youth in foster care in the United States. They are typically given a trash bag to pack up their belongings when they’re removed from their homes. Removing trash bags from the system, Comfort Cases backpacks are filled with new, essential comfort and personal care items for youth entering and exiting foster care, including pajamas, blankets, towels, hygiene kits, books, journals, coloring books, crayons or pencils, and stuffed animals.

Barely Canadian is a family business that creates incredibly soft apparel and donates a portion of its sales to foster care nonprofits. The combined value of each donated Comfort Case and Barely Canadian hoodie exceeds $400.

“As advocates and parents of children previously in foster care, our mission is to create impactful partnerships and initiatives that benefit youth in the foster system through our premium, super soft clothing,” said Kelly Slattery, founder and CEO of Barely Canadian. “By collaborating with Rize Credit Union, we can offer some comfort and support to children in care by providing them with comforting items that we hope might ease their transition into foster care.”

“We believe every child deserves dignity, hope, and the tools to build a successful future,” states Rob Scheer, Comfort Cases’ founder. “Through our continued partnership with Rize Credit Union, we are empowering youth in foster care with something truly life-changing — the opportunity to open a bank account, learn financial responsibility, and take control of their future. Many of these young people have never had access to financial education, and this program ensures they won’t have to navigate adulthood unprepared. By providing them with both essential items and essential life skills, we are setting them on a path toward independence and financial security.”

Watch video from the August 2024 packing parties HERE.

About Comfort Cases

Comfort Cases is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a mission to inspire communities to bring dignity and hope to youth entering foster care. Since 2013, we have distributed more than 255,000 Comfort Cases® and Comfort XL duffel bags to children in the foster care system in all 50 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. We are a gold-level GuideStar participant, demonstrating our commitment to transparency. Click this link or visit www.comfortcases.org for more information.

About Barely Canadian

Venice, California-based Barely Canadian, is a family-run business that creates super-soft sweaters, hoodies, onesies, sunsies, smittens, and other comfy, premium apparel. Among its partners are the LA Kings, LA Lakers, Rize Credit Union, and Warner Music Group. Barely Canadian is also passionate about its mission to serve foster youth. The company provides training and employment opportunities for youth in foster care while helping to raise money for foster youth organizations like Echoes of Hope, Kidsave, and its own program, Fosterpreneur. For more on Barely Canadian, visit www.barelycanadian.com.

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