In August of 2016, KidsEmbrace began a partnership with Los Angeles-based RaiseAChild, a national non-profit organization with the mission of building loving families for foster children. The organization believes in improving the process of advancing foster children to homes where they can feel safe and loved.
While KidsEmbrace places a special importance on protecting children in automobiles with safe car seats, our company passionately cares for children without permanent homes, and we are grateful to contribute to finding adoptive parents for kids.
The partnership was cultivated through the friendship between RaiseAChild Founder and CEO, Rich Valenza and KidsEmbrace COO, Vincent Mastrangelo. In response to his decision to support a foundation that is directly helping foster children, Vincent says “I have seen firsthand just how transforming fostering and adoption can be to a family as my older brother was adopted and he is the most inspirational and influential person in my life.” Vincent feels that the decision to support RaiseAChild came without hesitation; his parents built a loving family for an adoptive child and he wants to help more adoptive and foster children find loving homes as well. He adds, “Each year RaiseAChild gives thousands of families hope and we are honored to support all the great things they do!”
May was National Foster Care Awareness Month, bringing awareness to the growing need for adoptive parents for foster children around the United States. To bring attention to the cause,
RaiseAChild launched a multi-media campaign featuring celebrities and civic leaders throughout Southern California.
The “Reimagine Foster Parents™” campaign has been featured on radio, television, print, and social media, maximizing its reach to get more children in permanent homes. KidsEmbrace is honored to be a co-sponsor of this campaign, teaming with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and Banc of California so that more families become interested in raising foster children.
In a promotional video for the campaign, actor Jon Cryer of Two and A Half Men addressed the supposed status quo of what a family should be: “Families are what they are. They defy convention... it is what you make it.” KidsEmbrace supports that statement, believing that families should be defined based on love, and by giving the gift of love to a foster child, new opportunities are being created for the child and family. Cryer and his wife, Lisa Joyner (co-host of TLC’s Long Lost Family) are themselves, adoptive parents. Joyner was adopted herself, making the experience even more special for their family.
RaiseAChild #ReimagineFosterParents - Jon Cryer & Lisa Joyner's Story from Rich Valenza on Vimeo.
Los Angeles County is the largest child welfare agency in the nation, with 35,000 children who are actively seeking a permanent home. All of these children are gifts to the world and can be special additions to families with stable homes.
With the support of KidsEmbrace, HBO, CBS, and Banc of California, an event dedicated to celebrating foster families will be held on Saturday, June 10, 2017. The event, RaiseAChild HONORS at Jim Henson Company Lot in Hollywood, CA, will feature parents Matt Dallas and Blue Hamilton as honorees among many other foster/adoptive parents. Designer auctions, entertainment, fancy drinks and more festive activities for adults will be held at the event, promoting RaiseAChild’s belief that families should be based on love.
Child safety is of utmost importance to KidsEmbrace no matter the situation or setting. In our industry, we aspire for all car seats to be properly installed and for each child to be buckled in correctly and that safety standards are exceeded by the car and driver. However, we strive to extend our passion of child safety beyond the automobile as we now share a common goal with RaiseAChild to Reimagine Foster Parents™. The campaign will create new opportunities for children to find a home and for parents to add to their families.
A portion of the proceeds from KidsEmbrace sales will be donated to RaiseAChild to help children feel safe worldwide.
If interested in attending the HONORS event, you may purchase tickets using this link.
Purchase Tickets to HONORS Event
If interested in taking part of their silent auction, you may do so via using the link below: Go to Silent Auction