March has started off fast….literally! The 7th Annual CASA St. Patrick’s 5K kicked it off on Saturday, March 2nd and saw our biggest turnout ever along with beautiful weather and a great field of runners and walkers.
Tyler Ecker of Killeen had the overall best time making the trek in just 20:26 which was just incredible. He mentioned that he could have been faster but he had played a high school tennis match AND had a soccer game the day before the race! Melinda Mehaffey of Belton was the top female runner with a time of 23:56. Other notable finishers included Owen Evans, (5) our youngest runner, and Dennis Alston (80) of Calvert who has run in each CASA 5K over the past 4 years as the oldest participant. The Carlson Law Firm won the largest group prize for having 16 runners registered in the CASA 5K.
We also enjoyed the support of many CASA Board Members and staff who volunteered their time to make the event run very smoothly. The event was also well supported by the staff at Vista Real Estate – our key sponsor each year for the 5K race. State Representative Hugh Shine also dropped in to offer words of encouragement to the runners and CASA volunteers for their work with children in foster care in our area. Representative Shine always makes time to support the advocates and donors who enable CASA to continue growing and serving more children in Bell and Coryell Counties.
Next month is Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month AND Volunteer Appreciation Month. CASA has big plans for the whole month of April. We have already kicked off the sale of our GO BLUE t-shirts to promote abuse awareness and they are on sale to anyone who wants to help end child abuse. You can purchase a Team CASA GO BLUE t-shirt for just $10 or buy a blue ribbon for only $5 by logging on at https://givebutter.com/CASACAPM to purchase yours today. The deadline to order shirts is March 21st so that we can have them ready to distribute by April 1st.
Finally – as part of Volunteer Appreciation Month in April – we will once again be thanking and celebrating the work of our CASA Volunteer Advocates. We will host an appreciation luncheon for all volunteers on Thursday, April 18th at the Bell County Museum in Belton. This should be a fun day to recognize the amazing support our volunteers provide to CASA kids in our care. Please save the date and plan to join us on April 18th for food, fun, and fellowship as we say THANK YOU to our CASA volunteers.
Our CASA office is growing and prospering as one of the fastest expanding offices in the State of Texas. Thanks to our team of amazing staff members and the heartwarming efforts of our advocates, we are making life better for kids who have been removed from their families. If you would like to find out how YOU can change a life – contact us at (254) 774-1881 or go to www.casabellcoryell.org and learn more about speaking up for children in foster care.
Happy Spring to you all and please let us know how we can serve you better.
Kevin