Apparel brand Bombas will donate 2000 socks to be included inside the CITYPAKs
(Nashville, TN – April 4, 2023) Reliant Talent Agency has partnered with non-profit organization CITYPAK to provide custom-designed backpacks to Nashville’s homeless population. The initiative, taking place between April 30 and May 2, will see the distribution of 1,000 custom-made packs to individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or in housing transition.
In late April and early May, CITYPAKs will be distributed at four outreach events in Tennessee, with each event hosted by local non-profit organizations that help to serve neighbors in need year-round. In addition, Bombas has donated 2000 new, unworn socks to be included with the distributions. The first distribution event will be on Sunday, April 30, with ShowerUp at “Old Tent City” in Nashville from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The second event will be on Monday, May 1, with People Loving Nashville at War Memorial Plaza in Nashville from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The third event will be on Tuesday, May 2, with The Bridge Ministry at a Jefferson Street Bridge from 5pm-6:15pm. Finally, throughout late April and early May, there will be an effort with YAIPak Outreach to serve vulnerable people and communities in Tennessee’s rural areas.
CITYPAK was launched in 2012 by music industry executive and Reliant Talent Agent Ron Kaplan, to provide custom-designed backpacks to those who are unhoused. The organization has since provided over 95,000 backpacks in more than 150 cities across the U.S. and around the world. The innovative packs feature an integrated poncho, reflectors, anti-theft loops, and special pockets to protect personal items from the elements, providing added safety, security, and mobility for the user.
While CITYPAK manufacturing partner High Sierra (Samsonite) provides the PAKs at cost, CITYPAK must raise money through donations to cover production and shipping. CITYPAK’s ongoing success is made possible by SBK Foundation / Selma Breskin Kaplan Foundation, founded by the Kaplan family and CITYPAK’s biggest donor to date, and other philanthropic institutions, private donors, and individuals.
“I’m so grateful for this opportunity for Reliant Talent and CITYPAK to make a meaningful impact on the Nashville community, and am humbled to be partnering with some amazing local organizations that are doing important work year-round to serve neighbors in need,” said Kaplan. “By providing custom-designed backpacks to the un-housed, we hope to improve the quality of life for those in need, and to promote dignity in homelessness – one PAK at a time.”
Among the volunteers signed up to distribute homeless packs, are some of the staff members from Reliant Talent. To learn more about CITYPAK and to get involved in this initiative, visit www.citypak.org/donate.
About CITYPAK: CITYPAK Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing custom-designed backpacks to those who are unhoused. Since being launched in 2012 by music industry executive Ron Kaplan (Reliant Talent Agency, Nashville), CITYPAK has provided 95,000+ specifically designed backpacks and reaching families and individuals experiencing homelessness or housing transition in more than 150 cities across the U.S. and around the world. The inspiration for CITYPAK came from Kaplan’s desire to make life a little easier for those living on the streets of his native Chicago. At that time, working as Founding Partner at booking agency Monterey International, Kaplan collaborated with Illinois-based High Sierra, a division of Samsonite, to design and manufacture a versatile, high-quality backpack to meet the unique needs of the homeless. With an integrated poncho, reflectors, anti-theft loops and special pockets to protect personal items from the elements, the innovative packs provide added safety, security and mobility for the user. While High Sierra provides the PAKs at cost, CITYPAK must raise money through donations to cover production and shipping. CITYPAK’s ongoing success is made possible by SBK Foundation / Selma Breskin Kaplan Foundation (founded by the Kaplan family and CITYPAK’s biggest donor to date), and by other philanthropic institutions, private donors and individuals. Learn more, get involved, and donate to help provide CITYPAKs to your community. www.citypak.org / DONATE
About Ron Kaplan:
Ron Kaplan, Senior Agent and Executive at Reliant Talent Agency, has always connected deeply to music. Music has been a constant thread in his life, from playing in bands during high school to being a bass player for Redwood Landing between 1971-1976, and later with Harvey Mandel and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. In 2011, Ron created the CITYPAK Project through his family charity, The SBK Foundation, with the goal of promoting dignity for the unhoused. The PAKs provided by CITYPAK are custom-designed by High Sierra to address the specific needs of individuals experiencing housing transition. Alongside his music career, Ron is also an avid cyclist and a dedicated vegan. He is committed to advancing the inspiring causes supported by the SBK Foundation to create a better world. Ron Kaplan on Linked I
About Reliant Talent:
Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Reliant Talent is a boutique agency with a foundation built on artist booking and representation while guiding strategic, long-term growth for artists. Comprised of a growing team of veteran and contemporary agents with decades of experience spanning major talent agencies, the company brings vast knowledge and expertise in booking and live events across many different genres. Reliant Talent’s roster includes Travis Tritt, Kenny Loggins, Rodney Carrington, Phil Vassar, Yacht Rock Revue, Take 6, Average White Band, Lit, Everclear, Saliva, Sister Hazel, and many others (here). Reliant Talent Agency can be reached at info@relianttalent.com / P.O. Box 60778, Nashville, Tenn. 37206. For more information about Reliant Talent Agency, visit www.ReliantTalent.com. For more information, visit www.relianttalent.com.
About Bombas: Bombas is a comfort-focused, basics apparel brand with a mission to help those in need. The company was originally founded in 2013 because socks are the #1 most requested clothing item at homeless shelters. Underwear and t-shirts are #2 and #3 respectively. While the brand started with and is known for its extremely comfortable socks, Bombas used its expertise in comfort to launch into apparel with t-shirts in 2019 and most recently, underwear in 2021. For every item purchased, a specially-designed item is donated to someone experiencing homelessness. To date, Bombas has donated more than 75 million items to those who are at risk of experiencing or currently experiencing homelessness. www.bombas.com.
About High Sierra: A division of Samsonite LLC, High Sierra designs feature-rich, versatile lifestyle bags for adventurers everywhere. Founded in 1978, High Sierra creates durable, affordable products with distinctive details. In 2012, High Sierra formed a design partnership with the Chicago-based CITYPAK Project [501(c)(3)] to create purposeful, utilitarian backpacks for the homeless. www.highsierra.com
About Shower Up: ShowerUp provides mobile showers and personal care for anyone in need. Through their work, thousands have had the ability to get a clean, safe, comfortable, and hot shower. Since their launch in Nashville in 2017, ShowerUp has provided over 25,000 showers. Annually, they partner with over 2,000 volunteers and collaborate with more than 30 nonprofits, churches, businesses, and volunteer groups to shower grace, hope, and love on those experiencing homelessness. Each week, ShowerUp sets up their mobile shower units at 6-8 locations around the city so they can make access to a shower convenient for those in need. They provide everything needed including clean towels, washcloths and loofas, toiletries, and clean underwear and socks. ShowerUp’s mission is to build community, elevate dignity, ignite hope, and demonstrate God’s love through mobile showers and personal care. https://showerup.org/.
About People Loving Nashville: People Loving Nashville was unintentionally established in 2008 when a group of friends shared several hot meals with some homeless individuals on a cold Thanksgiving night. The experience changed something in them, and they continued to bring supper downtown once a month. Once a month soon turned into a weekly tradition. From a two-burner stove in a bachelor pad to a commercially outfitted kitchen at church, PLN has continued to grow and expand, learning and maturing along the way, all in front of the backdrop of friendship. Our skilled staff and trained volunteers seek to form relationships that bring an evidence-based pathway to sustainable hope, healing, and restoration inspired by the words of Jesus. We weekly provide 800+ meals, prepare clothing and supplies for distribution, and provide emergency responses to serve some of the most vulnerable of our city in public spaces, low-income apartment complexes, encampments, and more. www.peoplelovingnashville.com
About The Bridge Ministry: THE BRIDGE, INC. exists to alleviate the suffering of underprivileged children, the homeless, and the working poor by providing life-sustaining resources and a message of hope. AT CHURCH UNDER THE BRIDGE, every Tuesday Night under the Jefferson Street Bridge, we serve 300 – 500 of our homeless and under-resourced friends. Everyone receives a delicious hot meal, clothing/toiletries donated by partner organizations and companies, and can also participate in a powerful worship service. Even during COVID, while adhering to CDC guidelines and following Nashville mayor’s pandemic response mandates closely, The Bridge found adaptive ways to serve this vulnerable population strategically. They have not missed a Tuesday night, and continue to serve hundreds each week with a hot meal, food bags, water, toiletries, sleeping bags, tents, and more. www.thebridgenashville.org
About YAIPak Outreach: YAIPak Outreach believes we are reaching the world by impacting communities. We target our support to 4 projects: With Project Foster Hope, we provide Boxes of Joy to Impacted Children in Trauma by partnering with child protective services, school social workers, foster care parents and first responders. For Project Hope to Veterans, we provide identified homeless veterans with resources to attain benefits and work thru case managers at VA in Nashville & Operation Stand Down to support them from homelessness to housing. We give them Totes of Hope filled with household items from kitchen to bathroom along with any furniture we have. For Project Rebuild Hope: we support Natural Disaster Relief by partnering with government officials and first responders, local churches and organizations giving them clean up equipment, supplies, providing emergency laundry services & clean shower units. With Project Be The Hope, our community outreach stands in the gap of organizations and local government agencies to provide life sustaining necessities. We work with schools and churches to reach families and children in lower income housing areas. We love on the homeless with supplies and resources that lead to recovery. YAI – You Are Important. Pak – People Administering Kindness https://www.yaioutreach.org/
About SBK Foundation: Founded by the family of Ron Kaplan, music industry professional and philanthropist, the SBK Foundation (Selma Breskin Kaplan Foundation) is a benefactor to uplifting organizations including the CITYPAK Project, CYCLE Kids, Kiss The Ground, L39ion, Urban Voices Project, Backline, and others. The CITYPAK Project (SBK’s original and flagship donor recipient)strives for dignity in homelessness through the distribution of backpacks specifically designed for life on the streets. CYCLE Kids is committed to working with schools in underserved diverse communities to ensure the basic rights of children to a physically and emotionally healthy start in life. Kiss The Ground’s mission is to awaken people to the possibilities of regenerative agriculture. L39ion was created to advance the sport of cycling, eliminate boundaries, and promote diversity, representation and inclusion. Urban Voices Project amplifies artistic expression to improve well-being, strengthen networks and inspire individuals to be their own best advocates. In 2023, look for SBK and Backline, a music industry health and wellness resource hub, to unveil the Take.Care Wellness Kit program – which will provide products and resources for touring musicians and crew experiencing mental health challenges. The common thread between each of the organizations SBK supports? All of these organizations are doing inspirational work, and SBK Foundation is committed to supporting inspiring causes for a better world.