The Lonoke County CASA Home and Outdoors Fund-raising Dinner and Auction will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23 at the Cabot National Guard Armory, 300 Commerce Park Drive. Tickets are $30 per person.
Volunteers for CASA, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, assist children involved in court cases by reaching out to teachers, social workers, parents, lawyers, caregivers and others.
CASA is a national nonprofit organization which trains and supports volunteers—people like you and me—to speak and act as advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children. The CASA volunteer advocates are trained to work within the child welfare and family court systems and are appointed by judges to individual cases. With the help of a CASA volunteer, a child is half as likely to languish in the foster care system, and that much more likely to find a safe and permanent home.
“Right here in our community,” according to a news release, “there are abused and neglected children who live in the shadows of our lives. She may be the little girl in your son’s kindergarten class, who had to move homes and change schools three or four times in the last year. He may be the lonely child at the park who doesn’t join the game.
“The little girl who has already suffered in an abusive home, enters the foster care system and is placed in three or four different homes in just a few months. Or the two siblings who lost their mother to incarceration are split up and living on different sides of the same county.
“This isn’t just a problem, it is nothing short of a violation of their human rights. A child cannot defend his or her own rights, but a CASA volunteer can,” according to the news release.
“Every child has a right to thrive. To be treated with dignity, and to live in a safe, loving home. Every child deserves a fighting chance. Once grown, former foster children could be our future doctors, teachers and leaders. Coming through a period of vulnerability and fear, the child can then understand his potential and his rights. She will believe in herself. That is our opportunity and our challenge,” the press release said.
For more information or to buy tickets, call 501-676-6533 or email casa23@sbcglobal.net.
