Welcome to another edition of CASA Up Close Monthly. Please feel free to contact CASA for more information about anything you read. And, as always, thank you for your continued support! Use these quick links to get involved.
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- Adoption Day
- Welcome New CASA Volunteers
- Training Dates for 2019
- Gift Cards for CASA Youth
- Information Sessions
- Pictures with Santa
- Birdies for CASA
- Have a Ball with your CASA Youth
- Payroll Deductions for CASA
- Events Benefiting CASA
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Letter from the Executive Director
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As National Adoption Month comes to an end and the Holidays begin, I can not think of a more perfect transition than last week's Adoption Day.
On November 19th,
CASA of Central Texas was privileged to participate
in the annual Central Texas Adoption Day and witnessed 17 new families being created.
Included in those were 15 children CASA helped along their journeys to their forever homes.
How special this day must have been for them! Last week they spent their first Thanksgiving as an official "forever" family, and will continue to spend their first Holiday season as a family.
I am thankful for my own family, and I am also thankful for you, our supporters and advocates, who work hard to make these forever families possible. The holidays are better when they are spent with family, especially for children.
Norma Castilla-Blackwell
CASA of Central Texas
Executive Director
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Jade and Gaby were adopted after more than 500 days in foster care. Thank you to their CASA volunteer
Sandy Brimhall for advocating for their best interest.
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Timothy
and
Mariah
were adopted at Central Texas Adoption Day, surrounded by friends and family including their CASA Volunteer
Lana Rhodes
.
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CASA hosted an Arts & Crafts & Reading Room in collaboration with local author
Beth Guillot
"
Elizabeth the Dreamer
"
and community partner
Einstein from Canine Classmates
.
Every child enjoyed free books and take-home activities. Other fun guests included Wendy from
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids®
program, and the
Lonestar Social Services Superheroes
.
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Welcome New CASA Volunteers
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Jessica Garcia
(right) of Hays County was sworn in on November 9.
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Judge Melissa McClenahan (pictured left) with new CASA volunteer
Sky Rivera
of Hays County, sworn in on November 7.
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Two new CASA Volunteers were sworn in this month. They have completed 5 weeks of training, background checks, courtroom observation and are now ready to advocate for children in court.
Training sessions will begin again in January 2019. Check out our
calendar
and follow us on
Facebook
for training session dates.
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Become a CASA Volunteer in 2019
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First Training Dates of 2019
Saturdays - San Marcos
January 12 - January 26
9 - 2 p.m.
Wednesdays - San Marcos
February 6 – March 6
1-5 p.m.
Thursdays - New Braunfels
February 7 – March 7
4:30-8:30 p.m.
Application deadline prior to each cycle is two weeks before start of training.
Submit your application
here
.
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For more information on training courses, contact Glenn Killey at 512-392-3578, 830-626-2272, or by
email.
One-hour pre-training interview to occur at least one week before start of each training cycle. Mandatory 10-hour online class to be completed before class begins.
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Gift Cards for CASA Youth
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Thanks to our generous community members and organizations, CASA has fulfilled the Holiday Wishlists of more than 250 children this year!
Throughout December our volunteers will visit the children on their cases and deliver the personalized gifts that are provided through our Holiday Toy and Gift Drive.
Volunteers will be appointed to more children in December, and there will be additional needs for children throughout the year outside of the holiday season.
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If you would like to help us prepare for these needs, we are collecting gift cards from
Walmart, Target, Academy, Starbucks and Best Buy (suggested). Gift Cards should be for $20.
Gift cards may be dropped off at either CASA office, or mailed to the New Braunfels office.
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CASA of Central Texas
1619 E. Common, Ste. 301
New Braunfels, TX 78261
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"Voices" Information Sessions
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Want to learn more about the role of a CASA Volunteer?
Come to our one-hour information session and hear how our volunteers advocate for children who have been abused and neglected.
New Braunfels
Wednesday, December 5th, noon
CASA office
San Marcos
Wednesday, December 19th, noon
Historic County Courthouse, 1st floor conference room
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CASA staff and volunteers will be on hand to share their stories and answer your questions.
Please RSVP to Eloise Hudson by
email
or at 830-626-2272.
Lunch provided by Chick-fil-A.
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Mark your calendar for
Saturday, December 15
at
McKenna Events Center,from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
to get your picture with Santa!
Proceeds benefit CASA of Central Texas.
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Tomorrow marks the first day of the Birdies for Charity ’12 Days of Giving’ campaign! Between December 1-12, CASA will receive $10 of every ticket purchased to attend the Valero Texas Open. What’s even more exciting is that the Valero Texas Open will match up to an additional $500 and give a $2,500 bonus to the charity who sells the most tickets! Tickets can be purchased
here
. From the dropdown box, please select ‘CASA of Central Texas’ as the charity you wish to support.
CASA has an additional opportunity to earn $20,000 at the Valero Texas Open when supporters simply check in at the Donation Station and enter their name into a drawing. For anyone who is not planning on attending the tournament but would like to support CASA, you can do so by making a pledge for every birdie made at the Valero Texas Open.
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In 2018, 2,904 birdies were made, so a pledge of $0.01 yielded a donation of $29.04. Like last year, CASA will receive 100% of your donation PLUS a 7% match back from Valero!
If you are interested in making a pledge for CASA for all birdies made from April 1-7 of 2019, you can pick up a pledge form in our CASA offices or follow this easy link
here
.
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Have a Ball with Your CASA Youth
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The U.S. Army All-American Bowl coordinators are again offering free tickets to CASA of Central Texas. This is a great opportunity for advocates to have an outing with the children on your cases or request tickets for their placement so they may attend together.
CASA of Central Texas was provided with general admission ticket vouchers, available on a first come, first served basis. They can be picked up at the CASA offices after December 5th.
The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is an East versus West showdown that features the top 90 high school football players from across the country and the nation's top 125 high school marching musicians who perform during half-time.
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U.S. Army All-American Bowl
January 5th, 2019, noon
Alamodome
Downtown San Antonio
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Payroll Deductions for CASA
State and Federal employees may give to CASA of Central Texas through payroll deductions under the State Employee Charitable Campaign and the Combined Federal Campaign. Watch for Campaign drives at your office, or talk to your Human Resources Representative for information.
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State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC)
CASA of Central Texas Code
#475017 (Capital Area)
#475030 (San Antonio Area)
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Combined Federal Campaign
(CFC)
CASA of Central Texas
#60661
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Events Benefiting CASA
CASA of Central Texas welcomes community initiatives to help promote awareness and funding for our program. By taking on this type of project, event organizers assume the responsibility of creating a successful event without a significant level of assistance from CASA. All special events and fundraising efforts conducted to benefit CASA are run by financially responsible and reputable organizations and individuals motivated by a genuine desire to help CASA. If you are interested in hosting a third-party fundraiser to benefit CASA, please review these
guidelines
.
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