A $20,000 award aids CASA of Central Virginia in its attempts to recruit volunteers

Lynchburg, Virginia – Children are the first priority for a local nonprofit, but they need your assistance.
A nationwide nonprofit organization called Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, employs trained volunteers to support judges and help the most vulnerable kids in the community.

Naturally, we need volunteers who are passionate about children, have the time, and aren’t going to give up on these youngsters. That’s very crucial,” stated Kelli Diaz, the recruitment director for CASA of Central Virginia.

According to Diaz, the national headquarters grant is essential to their efforts to recruit more volunteers.

“With the funds we received from National CASA, we hope to effectively target the various demographics we need for these kids, as well as the various localities where we need volunteers,” she stated.

Those interested must volunteer for a year, or until a child’s court case is finished, according to Diaz. According to her, they have already recruited ten new volunteers since this week thanks to the award.

“We can do things like billboards, radio commercials, social media advertisements, and other things that will really get us out there thanks to the grant.” In order to continue recruiting through civic and faith-based organizations, we also hope to be able to cultivate a sense of community,” Diaz stated.

Diaz is appreciative of the grant. They will make good use of the funds to recruit more diverse volunteers, she said.

“We always need more; diversity is very important to us, and we need more male volunteers, more Spanish-speaking volunteers, and more people of color.”

Diaz is optimistic that more kids in central Virginia will receive the support they require thanks to this grant.

She stated, “It is essential that they be able to have a CASA volunteer advocate accompany them and genuinely give them a voice and advocate for them when they would not otherwise have that voice.”