LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Foster care advocates will join the Music is Unity Foundation and Mixed Roots Foundation for an "Hour of Hope: Inspiring Change" a special event to kick off Father's Day Weekend and bring light to the realities of life for youth in the foster care system. This event is a land-mark in a two-month campaign launched in May to commemorate National Foster Care Month. Streamed live via Zoom, the one-hour program features inspiring stories from survivors of foster care, care givers, gov-ernment officials, celebrities and non-profit agencies, who have come together for the #FostercareChallenge. The #FosterChallenge campaign is raising funds for the #FosterChallenge Emergency Fund to cover critical needs for foster youth in crisis as the world struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment and social change. The one-hour special will be held live on Friday, June 19th at 1PM, PST/4PM, EST. To register for this free event, please visit http://www.fosterchallenge.org.
"Young people have been hit by this crisis especially hard," said Philip Bailey, Founder of the Music is Unity Foundation, and iconic musician of the group Earth, Wind & Fire. "Those who have aged out of foster care are struggling with food insecurity, poor health and unemployment without a family to lean on. As a father, I know how hard it for my kids, I can't imagine having to survive these hard times alone."
Among the voices sharing their personal stories for Father's Day weekend is electrifying singer-songwriter, performer and father, DREION, a survivor of the foster care system and an avid advocate for foster care reform. The inspiring program will also feature remarks from the #FosterChallenge government offi-cials, celebrities and will spotlight the work of the 26 non-profit foster care and adoption Community Partners who will benefit from the #FosterChallenge fundraising campaign.
In addition to sharing his story, DREION will also perform a couple of songs from his recent album to celebrate youth and the foster care community, https://www.dreion.com/. As a survivor, DREION seeks to use his traumatic experiences to positively impact generations locally and globally through the healing pow-er of music and arts. An alumnus of Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor's Degree in Songwriting, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Millennium Scholarship and the Warren & Susan Buffett Scholarship programs, he was awarded "Performer of The Year" by the Berklee Urban Service Awards in 2019.
"We are very excited and proud to host this special Hour of Hope with DREION and our Community Partners to bring unity and important awareness about the issues facing foster youth in these very difficult times," said Holly Choon Hyang Bachman, Founder and President of the Mixed Roots Foundation. Through the #FosterChallenge and this special Hour of Hope event, we not only hope to raise enough funds to help our youth and community partners in dire need, but we hope that this important moment can continue to bring us together as a community and be a light in so much darkness
right now."
Throughout the Hour of Hope: Inspiring Change program the public will be encouraged to visit http://www.fosterchallenge.org to donate to the #FosterChallenge campaign that features various items and experiences donated by top performers, sports figures and artists including Tiffany Haddish (Comedian/Actress), Sheila E. (Artist/ Percussionist), Cedric the Entertainer (TV Host/Comedian) Serayah McNeill (Empire), DJ Cassidy, Alex English (NBA Hall of Famer), Grammy Award
winning producers Bobby and Iz Avila, Kellie Williams (Family Matters), Michael Reagan, the U.S. Women's Olympic Hockey Team Sisters – Marissa and Hannah Brandt and many more.
The #FosterChallenge campaign will end on Tuesday, June 30th and a drawing will be held on July 1st. Winners will be announced and notified and items and experiences will be distributed the following week be-tween July 6-10th. 100% of the proceeds from the #FosterChallenge fundraising campaign will be allo-cated to the 26 non-profit adoption and foster care Community Partners the first week of July. A full list of the benefiting community partners is available at http://www.fosterchallenge.org. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent to the law.
About the Music Is Unity Foundation (MIU)
MIU is a leading non-profit created by Mr. Bailey to focus on youth aging out of foster care. Since 2007 MIU has provided grants to non-profit, community-based organizations and agencies offering supportive services to the over 23,000 youth who are emancipating from the U.S. Foster Care system each year. For more infor-mation about MIU, please visit musicisunity.org, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram at
@musicisunity.
About Mixed Roots Foundation (MRF)
Founded in 2011, MRF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization celebrating its 9 Year Anniversary based in Los Angeles, CA with regional offices in San Francisco, CA, Minneapolis, MN and New York, NY and serves as the first and only national / global multicultural foundation for adoptees and their families representative of the international, domestic, and foster care adoption experience and improves the lives of those touched by adoption and foster care by leveraging philanthropy and grassroots fundraising to support important post-adoption resources including mentoring, DNA testing and unique scholarships/grants for adoptees, foster youth and their families. For more info, please visit mixedrootsfoundation.org, Follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @mixedroots.
SOURCE Mixed Roots Foundation
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