In recognition of the need for confident, creative and compassionate leaders today and in the future, and especially the need for leaders of color, the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) is announcing a new partnership with the Portland nonprofit KairosPDX and the Oregon State Treasury’s Oregon College Savings Plan. Launched in 2014, KairosPDX is a nonprofit organization focused on delivering excellent, equitable education to systematically marginalized children, their families and their communities as well as professional development opportunities, policy and advocacy. Its approach includes a K-5 Learning Academy, an Early Learning Network, and Family Connections programming.
Through the new partnership, OBRC will work with KairosPDX and Oregon State Treasury to open an Oregon College Savings Plan account for each of the 200 plus students enrolled in the K-5 school, and a Green Bag Account for every family that does not yet have one. OBRC will seed each student’s Oregon College Savings Plan account with $25 and make a $5,000 contribution to KairosPDX to support their work. The Oregon College Savings Plan will contribute an additional $50 to each student’s account, for a combined total of $75 of higher education savings. Students and their families will then be able to continue funding their account by using the Green Bag program to redeem Oregon beverage containers, with the proceeds deposited directly into their linked Oregon College Savings Plan account.
OBRC owns and operates the BottleDrop network of redemption centers, as well as the Green Bag Account program. Already through that program, account holders can link their Green Bag Accounts to an Oregon College Savings Plan account and transfer any portion of their balance. Nearly $60,000 has been invested for the future educational needs of Oregon families in the months since BottleDrop and the Oregon College Savings Plan first offered the linked accounts.
“OBRC knows that systemic racism, injustice, and marginalization have created barriers to college and success for too many kids of color,” said Jules Bailey, Chief Stewardship Officer and Director of External Relations for OBRC. “KairosPDX works every day to break down those barriers, and we want to help. We’re a recycling company that wants to help break the cycle of marginalization. Our motto is ‘Small Deposit, Big Return,’ and by seeding these kids’ accounts, we’re putting our money where our mouth is.”
Any school can already work with OBRC and the Oregon College Savings Plan to set up linked accounts for their students, and OBRC anticipates this will be the first of many schools to join in their own partnership.
“We are so pleased OBRC has stepped up to partner with us and help pave the way toward a brighter future for our students,” said Kali Ladd, Executive Director and Co-Founder of KairosPDX. “We know college is an important goal for many of our families, and we want to do anything we can to help them achieve that.”
“We’re honored to build on our partnership with the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative to help children from communities of color to achieve their higher education dreams,” said State Treasurer Tobias Read. “We know that outcomes are brighter for kids who have even a small college savings account and that is an investment worth making.”
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The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative is the private, not-for-profit cooperative that runs Oregon’s nationally recognized beverage container deposit program. Through our BottleDrop Redemption Centers and container pickup service for more than 2,500 retail partners, we recycle more than 1.8 billion beverage containers, protecting the Oregon we love, supporting the causes we cherish and inspiring innovation beyond our borders – all without a single penny of state funding.
The Oregon College Savings Plan is a state-sponsored savings program that comes with special tax advantages and can be opened by just about anyone—parents, family, friends, even future students. The money saved in the Oregon College Savings Plan grows tax-free and can be used for qualified expenses at any accredited, post-secondary institution or trade school. To learn more and to open an account, please visit www.oregoncollegesavings.com
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