Hood alumni raise money for students in need

By Zoe Finholm//

Hood alumni and creators of the clothing brand Kozy Dayz, raised around $500 with their company to help students who need school supplies.

Kozy Dayz was established in January 2021 by Scott Kiewe, and Bryce McCown. This clothing brand aims to provide comfortable clothing for people on “all walks of life,” according to their mission statement.

“Our mission is to essentially make the world a better place,” McCown said.

McCown donated school supplies directly to the Boys and Girls Club in Havre de Grace, Maryland and Kiewe donated to elementary and high schools in Baltimore County by partnering with Edward Jones, a financial services firm.

 “I went to Office Depot and grabbed pretty much every bookbag I could find on the shelf,” Kiewe said. “The cashier probably thought I was a teacher.”

“We wanted to do something to give back to the community,” Kiewe said. “Because of Covid and kids not being able to be in school, they had to do things virtually…When they did get back to school it would be nice for them to have not only a new start but also new school supplies.”

Kiewe posted on LinkedIn and Facebook and received “nothing but praise” for what he and McCown were doing. Kiewe says that their company “is not so much about the praise, it’s more that we want people to realize we’re trying to make a true impact.”

“With everything that is going on in the world, I think that there are a lot of families impacted by it income-wise,” Kiewe said. “School supplies for me and Bryce was the most important thing to hit on.”

Neither Kiewe nor McCown were able to meet any of the students that they helped. When they dropped off their donations, it was only staff members working.

“We want our business to always be giving back to some sort of charity,” Kiewe said.

They have been brainstorming where they want to donate next. “We want to grow from this and hit some bigger causes,” McCown said.

Kiewe and McCown said that they want to continue to expand the company and make more people aware of Kozy Dayz. They describe Kozy Dayz as a “clothing brand for the people,” and want everyone to like and wear their clothing.

Since their main demographic is college students, McCown said they want to “make our clothing a little bit more affordable.”

Kozy Dayz will be dropping their next collection in mid-October. Follow them on Instagram at @kozydayzclothing or view their website at www.kozydayzclothing.com.