News

CASA has been selected by the readers of Chesapeake Family Magazine and the ChesapeakeFamily.com community as a favorite charity and will receive a $500 year-end cash award from Chesapeake Family Magazine.They were overwhelmed with the responses; all such good causes but Anne Arundel County Court Appointed Special Advocates, Inc. stood out above the rest! Thank you Chesapeake Family Magazine and all of you who voted for CASA. We are so very grateful of this amazing support!!

Rebecca Tingle received a pleasant surprise at her Rotary meeting on January 5, 2012. Unbeknownst to her, she was being presented with an award. The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International presented Tingle with a Paul Harris Fellow. This award is in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.

For the second time, CASA is proud to announce that it is the gracious recipient of a Maryland Small Grant from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. We are so very appreciative of the ongoing support that the Weinberg Foundation has provided to CASA over the years.

Every day, hundreds of thousands of children across the United States wake up not knowing what the day will bring. Will they be coming back to their home after school, or will they have to move again? Will today be the day adoption papers finally go through? There is little sense of security and no sense of permanency. As of September 2010, there were 408,425 children in the U.S. foster care system, of which the average stay in a foster home is 21 months, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CASA’s mission is to be the voice of those children.

Foster children can spend years in the system rotating through social workers, lawyers, and other personnel involved in their cases. CASAs, or court-appointed special advocates, act as that sense of permanency in a foster child’s life. They are a consistent, caring presence in the life of a child who might not otherwise have that stability.

It is a major commitment to become a CASA, as it involves regularly visiting with the children, attending court hearings, meeting with teachers and caseworkers, preparing written reports for court hearings, and other as-needed tasks. The main role and responsibility is to be the voice of the child and advocate that they are given the best opportunities within their situation.

There are other ways to make a difference with CASA. Fundraising events take place to raise money so that the organization can support their staff, provide resources and reach out to as many children as possible. On Saturday, November 5th, they will be holding a gala to celebrate their 14th anniversary of providing service to abused and neglected children with An Evening in CASAblanca. The event will include dining, dancing, and live and silent auctions.

The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County’s Casual for a Cause program set a record in the month of May by making the largest one month donation to a charity since its inception.

The Casual for a Cause program was started in 1995 by Mr. Robert Duckworth, Clerk of the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. The program requires that an employee donate $5 per month to a selected charity, and for this donation, the employees are allowed to dress casual on Fridays for the entirety of the month. The Circuit Court reports an astounding 75% participation rate from eligible employees.

Since its creation, the program has raised over $50,000 for local charities, including The Caring Collection, Food Link, and the Maryland Athletic Association, just to name a few. During the month of May, the Circuit Court picked Anne Arundel County CASA, Inc. as the monthly Casual for a Cause charity, and reported that it was the largest one month donation in the history of the program. The May donation of $500 brought the total lifetime donation to CASA to $1,485. This money goes directly to supporting abused and neglected children in Anne Arundel County who so desperately need it.

Anne Arundel Women Giving Together has once again awarded CASA with a grant for FY12. CASA was a previous grant recipient in FY09.

Anne Arundel Women Giving Together, a women's giving circle, was founded in 2005, and supports initiatives that improve the quality of life for women and families in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Anne Arundel Women Giving Together accomplishes its mission through:

• Grantmaking programs that support women and families
  
• Engaging and educating women donors around issues affecting women and families in the community and about philanthropy, and
  
• Building the power of collective philanthropy in Anne Arundel County

The Rotary Club of Annapolis funded CASA’s first computer in 1997, and has continued to make it possible for the program to expand each year to help more children by providing on-going support. With funds from the annual Crab Feast,The Rotary Club of Annapolis has generously sponsored a portion of CASA’s volunteer training program since 2004. The training of new volunteers is the cornerstone of ongoing programmatic improvement and development. In addition, CASA was graciously selected as the beneficiary of the proceeds from Black Tie and Diamonds in 2005. Furthermore, Pamela Volm, past CASA Board President, won the “Service Above Self” award in 2006 with $1,000 donated to CASA. While Annapolis Rotary’s funding has been vital to our programmatic success, the endorsement behind the funding has been a notable source of support, as well, to our hard-working Board of Directors, CASA volunteers and staff.

Chartered on February 11, 1921, the Annapolis Rotary Club is the largest and most active service club in Maryland's state capital and one of the most active in Rotary International District 7620. The chapter's membership of 160+ engages in a number of fundraising activities, but is most renowned for the World's Largest Crab Feast, held every year in late summer at the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium. Weekly meetings are convivial lunchtime gatherings, usually featuring an interesting speaker or presentation, held every Thursday at noon at the Annapolis Yacht Club. Visiting Rotarians and guests of Rotarians are very welcome.

The Rotary Club of Parole provided its initial grant to CASA in 1999 which provided for office furniture for an additional staff member. Furthermore, AACCASA has been the recipient of grant funds since 2000. The Rotary Club of Parole continues to financially support AACCASA today, allowing us to train new CASA volunteers. Ongoing volunteer recruitment and training is essential in meeting our program goals. All grants enabled us to serve additional abused and neglected children.

The Rotary Club of Parole is comprised of approximately 80 members, who enthusiastically share and demonstrate the Rotary philosophy. They are a service club that significantly improves lives in our local community and around the world by meeting real needs. Their vision "We will make a positive difference for youth today, so they will make a difference tomorrow."

Rotary’s guiding principle is Service Above Self. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today's most critical issues---children at risk, health & hunger, water and literacy.

They support programs for youth; educational opportunities and international exchanges for students and professionals; and vocational and career development and much more.

Their Club's signature project is the Books for International Goodwill, Inc. which takes used books for shipment to needy schools and libraries, and since 1995, has saved books from the landfill and shipped over 4 million books to help spread literacy throughout the world.

Office Depot, celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, announced on June 13, 2011 that the Company will celebrate the grand opening of its new store in Annapolis on Thursday, June 16, at 2 p.m. The store is located at 2401 Solomons Island Road.

During the ceremony, the Office Depot Foundation donated new children’s sackpacks with essential school supplies and made check presentations to three local non-profit organizations: Anne Arundel County CASA, Inc., The Arc of the Central Chesapeake Region and The Center of Help.

Mayor Joshua J. Cohen was in attendance and offered welcoming remarks. Bob Burdon, president and CEO of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce, Denise Nooe, representing US Senator Barbara Mikulski and Dr. Classie G. Hoyle, City of Annapolis Alderwoman for Ward Three, were also in attendance.

KeyImpact Sales and Systems, Inc. selected Anne Arundel County CASA, Inc. as a beneficiary for their annual holiday donation and presented Rebecca Tingle with a check in the amount of $2,000.

KeyImpact Sales and Systems, Inc. is the leading foodservice sales agency with a proven track record of delivering results with speed to market for its business partners. Through a best-in-class selling and service approach and a growing nationwide presence, we combine our local operator, distributor, educational and regional chain account relationships to create efficiencies for the leading brand companies. An ESOP comprised of 600+ employee owners, KeyImpact provides a full range of products, including food, packaging and supplies.

Rebecca Tingle, Executive Director of Anne Arundel County CASA, Inc. is the first recipient of the Incredible Award from Next Gen, a fund of the Community Foundation for Anne Arundel County.

Next Gen is a new group of young philanthropists with the common goal of growing a sustainable giving circle focused on developing the next generation of philanthropists and making a difference in our community. Their 2010 Incredible Award recognizes and celebrates a young, emerging leader who is employed by a local nonprofit organization and who demonstrates leadership, creativity, an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to improving Anne Arundel County. Through these awards, Next Gen seeks to recognize “thinkers and risk takers” whose outstanding initiative has led them to look for new and creative ways to meet the needs of Anne Arundel County’s residents. They seek to publicize and celebrate present achievements, to encourage the work of the recipient and to motivate others to follow their lead in service in our community. Rebecca Tingle with CASA quickly stood out as a young professional who encompasses all of these qualities. Her unwavering commitment to improving the lives of the county’s most vulnerable children has, quite simply, made her a hero.

The CASA program is a private, nonprofit organization comprised of professionally trained volunteers from the community, who are appointed by the Juvenile Court to serve as advocates for abused and neglected children. CASA volunteers work to ensure that the child’s needs are addressed, and that each child reaches a safe and permanent home as quickly as possible. There are approximately 160 children in Anne Arundel County living in temporary foster homes and this year, 91 CASA volunteers spoke up for 104 foster children in Anne Arundel County. Without CASA’s involvement, these children face the possibility of languishing in the child welfare system. CASA makes it possible for many of these children to have a chance at a brighter future.

Mrs. Tingle states In life, we all have something that we are passionate about…my passion is children who have suffered from the overwhelming effects of abuse and neglect. With CASA’s small staff, Mrs. Tingle has to wear many hats—Executive Director, fundraiser, & event planner, just to name a few. But it is because of her tireless efforts and her long days that she is getting closer to her goal of being able to help every abused & neglected child in Anne Arundel County.