To purchase a shirt online please click the image above.

As you may know, May is Foster Care Awareness month. To help raise awareness, you can help CASA, help a child, and win a gift basket!

Child abuse. Child neglect. I know these are not easy words to hear or easy topics to discuss. It is painful to think about children and youth experiencing abuse or neglect. Sadly, it happens every day. Many times, these children are removed from their homes and placed in foster care. Last year there were over 600 children in the foster care system in Merced County, today there are 785 children in care! At CASA of Merced County, we are dedicated to helping these children.

I hope you will join us in raising awareness about these issues and taking action to help children in need. Abuse and neglect can happen to a child at any age. Fortunately, having a caring, consistent adult – like a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer – can make all the difference. CASA of Merced County is determined to make sure every child in our county who has experienced abuse or neglect has a volunteer who will advocate for their needs and best interests. Right now, we are serving less than half of those children. With your support, we can do so much more.

We need more CASA volunteers in order to reach more children and help them thrive. Do you know someone that you think would make a good Advocate or would like to hear about the wonderful things CASA does? If you do, please submit their name, phone number and / or email address to clancaster@mercedcasa.org or sdurbin@mercedcasa.org. Please let the person know you are submitting their name. Stefani, our Outreach and Recruitment Coordinator will reach out to them and share about how they can become a CASA volunteer. If the person whose name you submit attends an Informational Session, your name will be entered, a second time and they will have their name entered into a separate drawing.

Depending upon what tier Merced County is in, the Information Sessions will be via Zoom or in person.

For each name you submit from May 5- May 31, 2021 your name will be entered into a drawing for a CASA Surprise gift basket. The drawing will take place on June 1, 2021.

By all of us pulling together, we can recruit and train more volunteers to help the abandoned, abused and neglected foster youth in Merced County!

Take Care,
Cathie Lancaster
Executive Director
CASA Merced County

To download a press release regarding the award please click on the image above .

Please click on the image above for more information regarding how CASA of Merced County is assisting our Foster Youth during this Covid-19 pandemic.