Redwood Credit Union Birthday Bash Raises Over $31,000 for Youth Arts Programs

SANTA ROSA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 17, 2025--

A shared birthday celebration raised over $31,000 to support music programs for youth in the North Bay. The third annual Birthday Benefit Bash, hosted by Brett Martinez, President and CEO of Redwood Credit Union (RCU), and Mark Nelson, lead singer of Walking Mirrors Music, brought together 250 guests at HopMonk Tavern in Sebastopol on Saturday, April 19.

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The sold-out event raised a total of $31,502, with all proceeds benefiting the Redwood Credit Union Community Fund (RCUCF). The funds will support three local nonprofits:

“This was a fun and meaningful way for Mark and me to celebrate our birthdays while giving back to the community,” said Martinez. “Thanks to the generosity of our supporters and the incredible work of these three organizations, we’re helping to inspire the next generation of musicians and artists.”

Walking Mirrors is a rock band formed in 2019 by Nelson and guitarist/producer Craig Bartock (of the band Heart), that donates proceeds from all performances to local nonprofits.

“Celebrating with my good friend Brett while supporting causes we care about is a true honor,” said Nelson. “It’s exactly what Walking Mirrors Music is all about—connecting with the community through live music.”

The RCU Community Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, channels 100% of donations directly into the community, supporting financial education, disaster relief, housing, and community wellness initiatives. Visit RCUCommunityFund.org to learn more.

About Redwood Credit Union

Founded in 1950, Redwood Credit Union is a full-service, not-for-profit financial institution providing personal and business banking to consumers and businesses in the North Bay and San Francisco. With a mission to passionately serve the best interests of its members, team members, and communities, RCU delivers many ways for its members to save and build money through checking and savings accounts, auto and home loans, credit cards, digital banking, business services, commercial and SBA lending, and more. Wealth management and investment services are available through Redwood Wealth Management, and insurance and auto-purchasing services are also offered through RCU Services Group (RCU’s wholly owned subsidiary). RCU has more than $9.3 billion in assets and serves more than 497,000 members with full-service branches from San Francisco to Ukiah. For more information, call 1 (800) 479-7928, visit redwoodcu.org, or follow RCU on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn for news and updates.

Mark Nelson (left), lead singer of Walking Mirrors Music and Brett Martinez (right), President & CEO of Redwood Credit Union hosted a Birthday Bash and raised money for local youth music programs. Photo credit: Will Bucquoy/Redwood Credit Union

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A former Polish justice minister who faces prosecution in his homeland over alleged abuse of power said Monday that he has been granted asylum in Hungary.

Zbigniew Ziobro was a key figure in the government led by the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party that ran Poland between 2015 and 2023. That administration established political control over key judicial institutions by stacking higher courts with friendly judges and punishing its critics with disciplinary action or assignments to far-away locations.

Current Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government came to power more than two years ago with ambitions to roll back the changes, but efforts to undo them have been blocked by two successive presidents aligned with the national right.

In October, prosecutors requested the lifting of Ziobro's parliamentary immunity to press charges against him. They allege among other things that Ziobro misused a fund for victims of violence, including for the purchase of Israeli Pegasus surveillance software.

Tusk’s party says Law and Justice used Pegasus to spy illegally on political opponents while in power. Ziobro says he acted lawfully.

Hungary, led by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has hosted several politicians close to Law and Justice while Polish authorities were seeking them.

In a lengthy post on X Monday, Ziobro wrote that he had “decided to accept the asylum granted to me by the government of Hungary due to the political persecution in Poland.”

“I have decided to remain abroad until genuine guarantees of the rule of law are restored in Poland,” he said. “I believe that instead of acquiescing to being silenced and subjected to a torrent of lies — which I would have no opportunity to refute — I can do more by fighting the mounting lawlessness in Poland.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Monday that Hungarian authorities have granted asylum to “several” individuals who would face political persecution in Poland, according to his ministry. He declined to specify their names.

In an English-language post on X, Tusk wrote that “the former Minister of Justice(!), Mr. Ziobro, who was the mastermind of the political corruption system, has asked the government of Victor Orbán for political asylum.”

“A logical choice,” he added.

FILE - The leader of the Polish junior coalition partners Zbigniew Ziobro, speaks to reporters alongside in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)