Hi *{{Informal Name}}*,

Summer is now in full swing! I hope you are finding ways to enjoy the heat or escape it. My family leaves for vacation soon and my kids have had two countdown calendars going to make sure we don't miss it. One calendar is a chalkboard and the other is a paper chain. They have dutifully changed the number on the chalkboard and carefully torn off one link of the chain every day. If I would have let them, they would have packed their suitcases a month ago, rotating their remaining two outfits until we leave. They are motivated. I sure wish I could transfer that motivation to cleaning their rooms and unloading the dishwasher!

Admittedly, I haven't grown out of doing the same thing. I definitely had my own countdown calendar as we approached Voices of Columbia last week. Read on to learn about how it went! Also, there is someone new we'd like you to meet on our team. Keep reading, stay well, and I hope you have the best day.

Sincerely,

Angela Carson

Development and Marketing Manager

Heart of Missouri CASA

Voices of Columbia was a success!

We had amazing time at Voices of Columbia last Thursday night! The music was great, our emcees were so much fun, and we got to premiere a new video that our Presenting Sponsor, Chimaeric Motion Pictures, produced for us. We will link to that in our next newsletter so you can see it if you weren't there. The most exciting part? We raised almost $15,000 last Thursday night, bringing our overall total to $51,000! We surpassed our goal of $50,000 during the encore performance of Forrest McCurren, the 2022 Voices of Columbia Champion. What. A. Night!

The money that was raised will impact the lives of children right here in our community. We will be able to provide 2,040 meaningful and life changing hours of advocacy to children because of amazingly generous people like you.

Enjoy these photos from the night! If you want to see the whole album, check out our Facebook page. If you were there, thank you for joining us. If you weren't able to make it this year, we hope you will be there next time!

Thank you to our generous sponsors!

There is no way we could have surpassed our fundraising goal without the generosity of these local businesses, churches, and individuals. They carried us into the night 70% of the way to our goal. We can't thank them enough for their support!

Welcome Darrell to the team

Darrell Barnes has joined the Heart of Missouri CASA staff as our new Boone Advocate Supervisor. He comes to CASA with years of experience in the child welfare community. He began his journey at the Juvenile Justice Center where he worked with young people. It was this experience that led to his passion to help children before they ended up in such a dire circumstance. Darrell has also worked as a community support specialist for children at Burrell Behavioral Health and was a Children Service Worker III with the Boone County Children’s Division before joining our team. In his free time, he loves traveling and spending time with his family. Darrell says, “A strength I will bring to CASA is an in-depth knowledge of the foster care system. On top of the professional experience I bring, helping children in foster care is part of my family’s story. My mom adopted 5 children, and she loved them in a way that inspired me to want to do the same and carry on her legacy.” Please help us welcome Darrell to the Heart of Missouri CASA team!

Vote for CASA with Target Circle

We are excited to be one of Target's local non-profits to support until June 30th! If you use the Target app and have votes to use in your Target Circle, please vote for Heart of Missouri CASA. Those votes turn into financial support! Vote. Vote. Vote!

Join Our Next Volunteer Training

Are you ready to take the next step and become a CASA? Our next available class is set to begin on August 17th! For more information, call us at (573) 442-4670, email us at hello@homcasa.org, or register for one of our no-obligation information sessions.

08/17/2022: Training Kick-off 1:00 - 2:00pm
08/24/2022: Session 1: 1:00 - 4:00pm
08/31/2022: Session 2: 1:00 - 4:00pm
09/07/2022: Session 3: 1:00 - 4:00pm
09/14/2022: Session 4: 1:00 - 4:00pm
09/21/2022: Session 5: 1:00 - 4:00pm

Training is made up of 15 hours in-person and 15 hours online.

If you are ready to apply now, you can do so on our website!