CASS COUNTY — On Friday, dozens of volunteers with Cass County Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children gathered at the organization’s 12th annual auction. Only, on that night, the volunteers were asked specifically to not give their time. The organization wanted to make sure that the people who give their time and energy to helping foster children in Cass County had a night to enjoy themselves, and for them to be recognized for their accomplishments.

“Volunteers are allowed to attend for free, and then they can pay for their spouse if they want them to attend,” said Brooke Artley, a volunteer from Edwardsburg who attended the event. “But it is recognition for us. It’s nice. The staff and the community, who helped at the event, they are sort of serving us, so it is important for the board and the staff to show us — the volunteers — that they are appreciated, so they ask us not to work the event.”

There are more than 150 Cass County children currently in the foster care system, according to Cass County CASA.  The organization and its volunteers served 48 of those children in 2017. A CASA volunteer serves as a voice throughout their assigned foster child’s time in the system.

“For me, it’s sort of like a mentoring program, like Big Brothers or Big Sisters,” Artely said. “But also paired with the responsibility of being the court advocate and interacting with the family, case workers, attorney, foster parents and other people involved with the case.”

At the auction, Cass County CASA volunteer Doug Pearson  spoke about how important it is for a child in the foster care system to have of a supportive adult around, and how one person can make all of the difference in the world to that child. During that time, they might be the only source of consistent support in that child’s life.

“[The foster child I am assigned to] had multiple case workers, different attorneys, even a different judge,” Artley said. “Every other person who has been involved with it has changed at least once, if not — in the case of case workers — many, many times. For her it’s important to have that one consistent voice and that one person that knows she can rely on and talk to, especially when one of the other people changes.”

Artley has been volunteering with the organization for more than two years and during that time she has been assigned to the same child, whose case is almost finished. After that, she plans to stay in the organization because she has seen how important it is to support foster children.

“It doesn’t take much to be a CASA,” Artley said. “And for a kid in that situation in foster care, they have no power, they have no voice and it’s a small thing for us to give a little bit of our time and energy to make a huge difference for those kids.”

Anyone interested in volunteering in with Cass County CASA can contact (269) 445-4431.