There are approximately 437,500 children in the foster care system in the United States—and many of them only have a trash bag to carry their belongings as they move from home to home. To help provide suitcases—and a sense of dignity—to these children, Briggs & Riley is teaming up with the foster care nonprofit Comfort Cases for its seventh annual luggage drive next month.
Between May 1–31, 2021, you can donate your gently used suitcases and bags to Briggs & Riley’s “A Case For Giving” luggage trade-in event at participating retailers or through briggs-riley.com. While the final list of participating retailers won’t go live on the Briggs & Riley website until May 1, select Dillard’s department stores and Hudson Group airport retail locations have already signed on to participate.
Donations can be bags of any size, from any brand, but must be in working condition. As a thank you, Briggs & Riley will give you a $100 credit toward a new Briggs & Riley rolling bag if you donate gently used rolling luggage, and a $50 credit toward a nonrolling Briggs & Riley piece if you donate a backpack, duffle bag, or briefcase. With rolling bags starting in the $300s, Briggs & Riley luggage isn’t cheap, but it’s worth the investment. In fact, the brand is probably best known for its lifetime warranty that covers all repairs—even if it is damaged by an airline—at no charge.
Through the partnership with Comfort Cases, the bags Briggs & Riley gathers will be donated to local foster care and family service agencies throughout the United States. Since being founded in 2013, Comfort Cases has already distributed more than 110,000 bags to children in the foster care system in the United States. Over the last seven years, the annual Briggs & Riley “A Case For Giving” events have contributed to more than 5,500 bag donations. By joining forces, Briggs & Riley and Comfort Cases hope for this year’s event to be its most successful yet.
“We are honored to be able to partner with Briggs & Riley for an effort that is close to my heart,” Rob Scheer, the founder of Comfort Cases, who grew up in foster care himself, said in a press release. “We continue to work to provide youth in foster care with the proper necessities needed to help maintain their sense of dignity and self-worth, and aligning with Briggs & Riley allows us to gift these children durable luggage to call their own.”
Stay tuned for more information about where you can donate at briggs-riley.com.
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