The first CASA For Kids Golf Tournament is being held Oct. 16 at the Preston Country Club in Kingwood.
Executive director Chrissi Christy said CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate.
“And what we do is we recruit and train community members. And those community members go through extensive training, they get sworn into the court and they follow children, a group of kids, or a family of children through the whole court process,” Christy said. “They make sure that their voices are heard and that their needs are met.”
The money raised by the golf tournament will go towards recruiting additional volunteers, Christy said. Currently CASA For Kids of Monongalia and Preston Counties serves about 30% of kids in the system between the two counties.
“And we definitely want to get to where we’re able to serve every child that comes into the foster care system,” Christy said.
CASA For Kids is the only agency in the community that provides child advocacy services, according to the tournament announcement.
“With the ever increasing number of abuse and neglect cases filed in Monongalia County, dedicated individuals working with CASA For Kids help gather information regarding the children and families in crisis that might otherwise be overlooked or lost but for CASA involvement,” Monongalia County Prosecutor Perri DeChristopher said.”The work and dedication of Kara Bailes and her team are much appreciated by the Monongalia County Prosecutor’s Office.”
The program has 38 volunteers and roughly 200 cases in each of the two counties. Christy said sadly, with the drug epidemic, the need for their services continues to rise.
The tournament is a co-ed scramble with teams of four and starts at 1 p.m. Tickets are $40 a person and available at casaforkidsmpc.org. Registration is available until the morning of.
Canaan Valley Resort and Pines Country Club each donated a round of golf as prizes, Christy said.
Sponsorships are available and current sponsors include LBL Financial, Earthres, Dieffenbauch & Hritz, and JD Byrider.
To become a tournament sponsor contact Christy at 304-599-1087.
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