Together We Rise

Together We Rise is an organization I discovered almost nine years ago. I was working at Disneyland and saw a large number of children walking around with t-shirts that said, “Together We Rise.” Of course this peaked my interest so I asked what it was all about. It was then that I discovered that all those children were in foster care and were being reunited with a sibling/siblings that they had been separated from when they entered the system. Having had my cousin adopted through foster care, this was an organization I instantly knew I needed to be involved with.

Reunification Day at Disneyland, CA

Together We Rise helps children in several ways including three main programs they use to support children in foster care: Sweet Cases, Build A Bike, and the Family Fellowship Scholarship Program. Together We Rise has participants in every state fundraise to support these programs. Without the help of participants across the United States, Together We Rise wouldn't be able to help so many children in foster care.

What some of you may not know is that when children in foster care move from home to home, they are usually given two trash bags to carry their belongings. Together We Rise knows these children deserve better than that. To help these kids have more positive experiences, we ask volunteers like you decorate, stuff, and donate Sweet Cases to your local foster agencies. That way we can reach children all across the United States. The Sweet Cases are blue duffel bags stuffed with a teddy bear, a blanket, a hygiene kit, a coloring book, and crayons. Participants can start an online campaign via Facebook and once they reach their goal, the Sweet Cases are shipped directly to you to be decorated and donated.

Picking up a box of sweet cases to be decorated and delivered.

Decorating Sweet Cases with everyone who donated to my campaign. 

Together We Rise wants children in foster care to feel like kids, not trash. No child deserves to carry their belongings in trash bags. There are so many issues and setbacks in the foster care system, and it can be a confusing and scary experience for a child to go through on their own. Our goal, with the help of people like you, is to make every child in foster care feel like they are not alone, and that we are rooting for them.

#NoMoreTrashBags

If anyone would like more information about Together We Rise, or would like to start a campaign of their own, please feel free to message me or go to

www.TogetherWeRise.org

A lot of people tell me they want to help children in foster care but they don’t know where to begin or how to get started. That is why I love Together We Rise so much. They offer a fun, easy and tangible way for anybody, young and old, to make a difference and help these precious children get the love they deserve!

Together We Rise,

Your Mrs. International 2018

Lauren Weeks