Johnstown, PA (NASDAQ: ASRV) – Nearly 100 foster care kids will travel to their next home placement with a little more comfort and lot more dignity, thanks to AmeriServ and Shana Stiles, AmeriServ Bank Senior Vice President – Compliance and Secrecy Act Officer. It’s the culmination of a grass roots effort that mobilized AmeriServ staffers into collecting and donating nearly 100 “Comfort Cases” to provide kids in foster care with items needed to make the transition from home to home. The AmeriServ Comfort Cases will be donated to two children’s advocacy agencies - the Johnstown-based foster care agency, Professional Family Care Services and A Child’s Place PA, headquartered in Allegheny County, to be used when placing and/or moving children within the foster care system.
Rob Scheer, founder of Comfort Cases, along with representatives from Professional Family Care Services and A Child’s Place, PA, will be at the AmeriServ Bank headquarters building located at 216 Franklin Street, Downtown Johnstown, at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 to talk about Comfort Cases’ mission and share information about needs of the foster care system and how to detect and prevent child abuse.
The event was originally inspired in 2019 by Ms. Stiles’ participation in the Pennsylvania Bankers Association’s Emerging Leaders initiative – an assignment to research a charity and prepare a class presentation. “When I read about Rob’s (Scheer) story, I was immediately moved to do something. With the help of some AmeriServ employees, I was able to organize a Comfort Case drive. This is the second time we have sponsored a collection drive and once again, the response has been overwhelming!” Stiles explained.
AmeriServ president and CEO, Jeff Stopko plans to be on hand to meet Scheer and representatives from the child services agencies and to help load the vehicles needed to transport cases to Professional Family Care Associates and A Child’s Place, PA. “As a community bank, we encourage our employees to take an active role within our communities. The sheer level of involvement and enthusiasm surrounding this effort speaks volumes about people’s willingness to help others. Rob Scheer’s story of growing up in foster care to finding a way to help those who are a part of the system today exemplifies what one can do when they are committed to making a difference not only for themselves and their community, but for those who have yet to find their life’s mission.”
ABOUT COMFORT CASES –
Rob Scheer founded Comfort Cases to help children in foster care feel a sense of dignity and self-worth as they make difficult transitions from home to home. Rob, a former foster kid himself, and now an adoptive father of four children from foster care, is dedicated to helping by providing “Comfort Cases” – backpacks and duffel bags lovingly filled with brand new pajamas, blankets, journals, pens, coloring books, crayons and toiletries and previously loved books and stuffed animals. Sadly, youth in foster care often carry any belongings they have to call their own in trash bags. Comfort Cases’ mantra? “No More Trash Bags!” Rob shares his difficult story to raise awareness and support – and to help children in foster care believe they, too, can overcome difficult beginnings. Rob also tries to erode the stigma of spending time in foster care.
Rob and Reece Scheer founded Comfort Cases in 2013. With an army of volunteers, the charity has delivered Cases to more than 30,000 children in foster care to date, reaching 34 states and Washington, DC. But nearly half a million children are navigating foster care in the United States, and the Scheers, hope to eventually provide a Comfort Case to every child in need.
For more information on how to donate a Comfort Case or to make a monetary donation to the Comfort Case Center, visit the website, www.comfortcases.org or contact the Center at 301-605-7813.
ABOUT PROFESSIONAL FAMILY SERVICES –
Professional Family Care Services is a non-profit agency dedicated to helping children in need, at risk, or in crisis. Its services include –
- Managing foster parenting and assisting in adoption and permanency for children of all ages.
Staffs and operates the Early Head Start program in Cambria County. - Contracts with Children and Youth Agencies to provide professional services, such as Adoption Home Studies and Family Group Decision Making Conferences.
- The agency serves children and families in these Pennsylvania counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Elk, Fayette, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Somerset, Washington, Westmoreland.
- For more information on how to make a monetary donation to Professional Family Care Services or to learn more on how to become a foster parent, visit the website, pfcs.org or contact the agency at 814.255-6780.
ABOUT A CHILD’S PLACE, PA –
A Child's Place, PA (ACP) was established in 1999 to coordinate services to ensure the accuracy and speed of investigations to help protect children from further abuse. ACP is a fully accredited Child Advocacy Center with a staff that has, for over a quarter of a century, fostered relationships with and provided child abuse services to Western Pennsylvania counties, and has been involved in more than 30,000 cases of suspected child abuse.
Over time, ACP has evolved into a multi-purpose agency that is passionate about serving children and families and continues to offer programs and services intent on stopping and preventing child abuse. ACP currently has five locations, all fully accredited by the National Children's Alliance, including the host site in Allegheny County, and satellite sites in Beaver, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties.
For more information on how to make a monetary donation to ACP or to learn more about how become a children’s advocate, visit the website, achildsplacepa.org or contact the agency at 412-237-7200.
ABOUT AMERISERV FINANCIAL, INC. –
AmeriServ Financial, Inc. is the parent of AmeriServ Financial Bank and AmeriServ Trust and Financial Services Company in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Company’s subsidiaries provide full-service banking and wealth management services through 17 community offices in southwestern Pennsylvania and Hagerstown, Maryland. The Company also operates loan production offices in Altoona and Monroeville, Pennsylvania. On June 30, 2022, AmeriServ had total assets of $1.3 billion and a book value of $6.22 per common share. For more information, visit www.ameriserv.com.
