WARRENDALE, Pa., July 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) rue21, inc., a leading teen specialty apparel retailer, today announced its title sponsorships for two summer tours benefitting underprivileged teens – Together We Rise and Threads for Teens. The sponsorships are part of the company’s larger rueGIVESback program, a philanthropy initiative dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of rue21’s customers and associates.

Together We Rise is a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming the way youth navigate through the foster care system in America. The organization collaborates with community partners to bring resources to foster youth and service-learning activities to educate volunteers on issues surrounding the foster care system. This July, rue21 is the title sponsor of their summer tour, which is a traveling mobile store making stops across the country to give foster teens an engaging experience while providing them the ability to choose free, new clothing donated by companies such as rue21.

Threads for Teens® gives brand-new, on-trend clothing to underprivileged teen girls, and provides free workshops designed to build their self-esteem and instill confidence. This August, Threads for Teens will travel across the U.S. in a mobile boutique providing clothing and hosting conferences that will include workshops on goal setting and dressing for success. Just like in 2015, rue21 will once again be the title sponsor for this tour.

On both tours, rue21 associates will have the opportunity to volunteer in each city to assist in helping the teens pick out clothing. Leading up to the tours, rue21 will host a variety of fundraising events at its corporate support center to raise funds for both organizations.

“Organizations like Together We Rise and Threads for Teens positively impact teens by giving them self-confidence and needed resources,” said Bob Fisch, President and Chief Executive Officer of rue21. “We’re thrilled to be able to continue our commitment to our customers and associates with these two important sponsorships this summer.”

rueGIVESback is committed to making a positive impact on the lives of rue21 customers and associates in the rueCommunities where they live, work, shop and play. In addition to raising money for Together We Rise and Threads for Teens, the rue21 summer interns will host an invitation-only Sample Sale that benefits rueRelief, a platform to provide merchandise donations and resources to those associates who experience a personal or financial hardship due to a catastrophic event.

About rue21

rue21, a leading teen specialty retailer,  believes that fashion plays an important role in the journey to self-discovery. Choose a style, make it your own. You’re an individual, and you need fresh, feel-good pieces that let you totally own it. That’s why the retailer works to make the latest trends affordable and available to anyone. Its mission is to make fashion everyone’s playground. Headquartered just north of Pittsburgh, PA, rue21 currently operates 1,190 stores in 48 states in shopping malls, outlets and strip centers, and on its website. For more information, visit www.rue21.com. The freedom to be you is rue!

About Together We Rise  
Together We Rise is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization comprised of motivated young adults and former foster youth. Our vision is to improve the lives of foster children in America, who often find themselves forgotten and neglected by the public. We collaborate with community partners to bring resources to foster youth and use service-learning activities to educate volunteers on issues surrounding the foster care system. TWR works with hundreds of foster agencies, social workers, CASA advocates, and other partners to bring our programs to foster youth across the nation. Our foundation has allowed us to provide thousands of foster youth across the country with new bicycles, college supplies, and suitcases so that children do not have to travel from home to home with their belongings in a trash bag.

About Threads for Teens
Threads for Teens is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization that gives underprivileged teen girls the opportunity to receive free, brand-new, quality clothing. Besides filling a tangible need, Threads for Teens gives young girls hope, boosts their self-esteem, and instills confidence. Threads for Teens was founded in January 2010 by then 14 year-old Allyson Ahlstrom of Santa Rosa, California.