RBC And Youth INC Partner To Bring RBC Race For The Kids To Downtown Manhattan On October 17

NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and Youth INC today announced that more than 1,800 RBC employees and fellow New Yorkers will gather at Brookfield Place Waterfront in downtown Manhattan at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, October 17, 2015, to take part in RBC Race for the Kids. Co-hosted by RBC and Youth INC, RBC Race for the Kids is a family day of athletic challenge that includes a 3K race, multi-event team challenge and shorter children's races, all to benefit youth in New York City. RBC has raised more than $1.6 million since June for Youth INC and other nonprofit organizations that help youth in the communities that need it most.

"RBC is excited to launch and host RBC Race for the Kids in partnership with Youth INC, a day in which more than 1,800 of our dedicated RBC employees and fellow New Yorkers will come together to support disadvantaged youth in New York City," said Blair Fleming, Head of RBC Capital Markets, U.S. and Head of U.S. Investment Banking. He continued: "RBC Race for the Kids showcases RBC's commitment to supporting charities that benefit our city's youth. Thank you to our employees and everyone involved on this significant day." 

RBC has a long legacy of supporting charities and initiatives that benefit youth and communities at the grassroots level. This is one of eight charitable runs RBC hosts annually in Toronto, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, London, Luxembourg City, Hong Kong, and Sydney. The RBC Race for the Kids series is part of RBC's larger commitment to youth through the RBC Kids Pledge, a five-year, $100 million promise to improve the well-being of one million kids and youth.

Currently one out of every three of the 1.8 million kids in New York City is living in poverty. Two out of three are below their reading grade level, and only 57 percent of these kids will receive their high school diploma.¹ RBC aims to improve these statistics and has a long legacy of supporting and working with charitable organizations that improve the daily lives of disadvantaged youth. RBC's charitable focus aligns well with Youth INC's mission to improve the lives of youth through a unique venture philanthropy model that empowers, develops, and educates nonprofit organizations serving young people. 

"We're excited to partner with RBC to host RBC Race for the Kids, an important day that is focused on supporting our city's youth," said Rehana Farrell, Youth INC Executive Director. "Through our network of 57 grassroots, youth-serving nonprofit organizations, we help over 150,000 kids each year and we support grassroots nonprofits that help New York City kids who have the potential, but not the opportunity, to change their lives and our city's future.  Together with the support of RBC and the general public, we can Raise Our City."

Alex Navab, KKR's Head of Americas Private Equity and Co-Head of Youth INC's National Advisory Board, said, "RBC has the leadership, commitment, and enthusiastic employee base to help deliver long-term change for New York City's youth.  RBC is committed to helping youth in our local communities and passionate about driving positive and impactful change. We are thrilled that in addition to partnering with us many RBC employees are directly involved in supporting the grassroots charities in the Youth INC nonprofit network."

RBC Race for the Kids has gained recognition from a number of senior government officials. Senator Schumer said: "Congratulations to Youth INC and RBC for hosting this event with the downtown community to raise funds to support our youth in New York City. It is crucial for the private sector to partner with not-for-profit organizations like Youth INC to help increase opportunities and provide a path to success for every young person, regardless of their circumstances."

Senator Gillibrand added her support: "I am grateful for organizations like Youth INC whose determination and innovation continues to transform the lives of our children. Please accept my best wishes for the RBC Race for Kids event that will benefit this organization and others to help continue those vital programs for our children and families."

Funds raised through RBC Race for the Kids will also positively impact other youth-focused charities, including: Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC, The Department of Pediatrics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), Ronald McDonald House of New York, GallopNYC, Fiver Children's Foundation, and Cornelia Connelly Center.

About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest bank, and one of the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services on a global basis. We employ approximately 79,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 38 other countries. For more information, please visit rbc.com.

RBC supports a broad range of community initiatives through donations, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2014, we contributed more than $111 million to causes worldwide, including donations and community investments of more than $76 million and $35 million in sponsorships.

About Youth INC
Youth INC's venture philanthropy model uses a rigorous screening process to identify the most promising nonprofits serving kids. Youth INC helps its nonprofit partners to develop robust fundraising capabilities, build a strong board, and establish metrics to increase and better illustrate their impact. Youth INC also issues capacity building grants that accelerate growth and drive sustainable scale. Over the life of their partnership with Youth INC, participating nonprofits experience an average increase of more than 160 percent in revenue, 45 percent increase in Board size and, most importantly, 120 percent increase in the number of youth served.  Since 1995, our venture philanthropy model has helped raise over $55 million to transform over 130 nonprofits and improve the lives of more than 600,000 New York City youth. To learn more about Youth INC visit: www.youthinc-usa.org.

For more information please contact:
Hannah Sloane, RBC Capital Markets            
[email protected]                                       
(212) 558-0441                                                        

Jenna Stasiewicz, Youth INC
[email protected]
(212) 401-4062  

Joel Moore, Hill+Knowlton Strategies
[email protected]
(212) 885-0468

1. Poverty is defined as a family of four living on < $24,000.
Source: Citizens' Committee For Children

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SOURCE Youth, I.N.C.

Related Links

http://www.youthinc-usa.org