Letter from the Executive Director Dear CASA Donors: I hope you and your loved ones are enjoying a nice springtime so far. April is an important month for CASA because it is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. We use this annual observation to drive awareness to child abuse and let the community know how they can help. April is also the month we have traditionally held our Light of Hope fundraiser. As many of you know, we opted not to hold the in-person event this year but are instead asking the community to Be a Light of Hope from Home by participating in our “Month of Hope” campaign any time during Child Abuse Prevention Month. CASA is still witnessing a surge in cases coming into our program because of the pandemic. Although the monthly numbers are no longer twice the pre-pandemic numbers, we are still seeing a roughly 50% increase each month in children entering the Dependency and Neglect program. We expect to see an additional 120 children by the end of 2021. It will cost $144,000 to serve these additional children with a CASA volunteer and we hope to raise that amount through “Month of Hope.” If you would like to participate, you may do so by either making a donation or by setting up your own “Month of Hope” fundraising page to share with friends and family. Click here to participate now. CASA remains an excellent steward of your donations as illustrated by the clean financial audit we received for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. If you did not check out our annual report yet, you can learn more by reading it here. It is hard to believe a full year has passed since initial social distancing orders changed our lives so drastically. A few aspects of normalcy have returned to our programs, but we are committed to continue weathering this storm while serving each and every child that needs us. Thank you for your steadfast support, and as a reminder please call 1-844-CO-4-KIDS to anonymously report suspected abuse or neglect. It takes the entire community to keep an eye on kids. Warmly, Angela | 
