10 Things We Appreciate in 2020

2020 will certainly be a year that we will all remember for the rest of our lives. From the great toilet paper shortage to twin hurricanes, it has certainly been interesting. Many of us have had or known someone with COVID-19 and unfortunately, we have lost loved ones to this virus. COVID-19 has also brought many challenges to small businesses and nonprofit organizations. Despite the challenges, we choose to end this year with hearts full of gratitude. Here’s our list of ten things we appreciate in 2020, in no particular order:

1 - CASA Volunteer Advocates

In 2020, 90 volunteer advocates worked on cases referred to our program. With the uncertainty of the virus in March, we shifted to virtual-only child visits for several months. This was extremely difficult for our volunteers as they missed their CASA kiddos and technology proved difficult, especially for the youngest kids on our caseload. With PPE in hand, we loosened the restrictions and allowed outdoor driveway/porch/yard visits. Now with the weather being so cold, we have allowed indoor visits with social distancing and masks, at the discretion of the volunteers. We are so grateful for the patience, flexibility, and understanding from our volunteers as we navigated the challenges of advocacy in an uncertain and unsafe environment.

Sharon Harris, advocate manager for Bedford, and her granddaughter showing some love to our CASA volunteers at our holiday drive-thru appreciation event.

2 - NEW Volunteer Advocates

You might imagine that during a global pandemic, those who are considering becoming a CASA volunteer might wait until the world looks a bit more normal before taking on a new role like this. But, we have had two full training classes of new volunteers and our February class is filling up quickly. We are grateful to these volunteers for stepping up during hard times because they know these kids can’t wait.

The Honorable Judge Stille inducted 14 new CASA Advocates during an online induction ceremony in August.

3 - Board Members

Our board is comprised of 19 individuals from various walks of life who give their time and talents to lead this organization and help raise funds to ensure our financial sustainability. With our events being postponed, canceled, and reimagined, we had to think outside the box with creative ideas and our board jumped right in. This is the hardest working board in town and I’m so grateful to have their support and leadership.

Team CASA at the “Fore the Kids” Golf Tournament in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Virginia. Pictured from left to right: Adam Pavao (former board member), Steph Ward and Tim King (current board members), and Kelli Diaz (current staff).

4 - Staff Members

On March 17, I sent an email to our ten staff members, which included this sentence: “Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18, all staff are required to work from home until at least Monday, April 6. We will of course be monitoring the situation very closely and will extend that time period if needed.” I remember one of my staff members asking me how long I actually thought we would be working from home. I told her it would be at least until the end of April. She was shocked and didn’t quite believe me. Well, here we are on December 31 and most of our staff continue to telework when they are not in court. We learned very quickly how to use Zoom and shifted all of our information sessions, in-service training workshops, pre-service training courses, induction ceremonies, and CASA Connect meetings to virtual. We have had virtual happy hours, socially distanced yoga in the park, virtual staff meetings, and outdoor lunches. Everyone has handled this transition with professionalism and grace and I am so grateful to work alongside this amazing team.

CASA staff during our team-building day of yoga in the park.

5 - Donors

At the beginning of the pandemic, we were unsure how to ask for donations. With the unemployment rate soaring and small businesses hurting, we wanted to be sensitive to the issues our donors could have been facing. But we also started our fiscal year with a draft budget that was in the red so we knew we had to ask for support. In June, we asked our supporters to create a Facebook fundraiser during our “Great CASA Give” and in seven days we raised $15,000! Donations have been coming in all through the year but during our holiday campaign, we have been humbled. So many gifts have come in that were unexpected and we are truly grateful for those that have stepped up. Your generosity has been a light in an otherwise gloomy year.

Our donors helped us raise $15,000 in 7 days!

6 - Grantors

With events canceled, postponed, and reimagined, we knew that in order to fill our funding gap, we had to reach out to our local foundations and ask for their help. Each grant request included an ask for a bit more than normal so that in the end, they could collectively ensure that our mission would not suffer. Not only did our local foundations step up with this additional operating and program support, but we also received CARES Act funding (local and state) and a PPP loan, which we expect will be 100% forgiven. We also received local funding to purchase PPE such as masks, hand sanitizers, thermometers, and cleaning wipes to keep our volunteers and staff safe.

Care packages of PPE for our volunteers funded from an emergency grant provided by the Bedford Community Health Foundation.

7 - Superhero Run Virtual Participants

Usually, we open registration for our Superhero Run in July. This year was a bit different as we contemplated numerous options. We had already rescheduled our CASA Blanca Gala and Shoe Sale to 2021 so canceling the race was not an option. We knew we had to go virtual but we were unsure how our supporters would embrace that idea. Virtual races were still fairly new in Lynchburg. After months of planning, we were once again humbled at the outcome. Although we had only 30% of our normal participation, with the help of our sponsors, participants (runners, walkers, and even couch crusaders!), fundraisers, and donors, we surpassed our projected income. Thank you superheroes!

Gloria Braxton, CASA volunteer advocate, and her daughter participating in the 2020 CASA Superhero Run virtually while visiting family in Georgia.

8 - Mustaches 4 Kids

Every year, a team of mustache growers works together to raise money for local nonprofits that serve children. CASA is one of those nonprofits. Last year, Mustaches 4 Kids Lynchburg (M4K) raised $185,000. This year the goal was to raise $200,000. It shocked everyone to see that the total was more than $320,000!! CASA gets $30,000 from this event each year and we are so grateful that 2020 came to a close with such an amazing, record-breaking “growing season.” Thank you to the M4K leadership, sponsors, growers, and donors! You guys are “stachetastic!”

M4K Lynchburg presenting CASA with a check for $30,000 at the Stache Bash on December 4, 2020

9 - CASA Blanca and Shoe Sale Ticket Holders and Sponsors

Before the Governor’s restrictions on small events went into place, we had already sold more than half of our tickets to our black-tie gala, CASA Blanca as well as many VIP tickets to our annual Shoe Sale. Sponsors were also already in place by then for the events. We scrambled to make decisions for both events and reached out immediately to our ticket holders with offers to refund their tickets or hold them until the rescheduled event. No one asked for a refund, not one person! We also reached out to our sponsors and every single one was understanding and flexible about rescheduling. We are so grateful for everyone’s patience and understanding as we navigated this uncharted territory. We can’t wait to get together again and see you all in person, hopefully soon!

Shoppers at one of our previous Shoe Sale events, a Lynchburg favorite for more than 20 years.

10 - Our Unsung Heroes

There are so many unsung heroes that make our work possible. We are incredibly grateful to foster parents for providing a safe and loving family during a child’s most difficult time; social workers and other professionals on our cases for continuing this difficult work even during a pandemic; churches, newspapers, and radio stations for giving us the spotlight to help us recruit new CASA volunteers; our judges for believing in the CASA mission and supporting our work; committee members and other volunteers who give their time to CASA. We couldn’t do this work without you!

Brendan Horner and his wife at our Christmas party a few years ago. Brendan is a former board member, current foster parent, and our volunteer IT expert.

If you are part of CASA of Central Virginia in any of these ways, thank you. If you would like to be, check out our website or email me to get more information. Cheers to 2021!

Allison Stronza
Executive Director