Yavapai CASA for Kids Foundation is an Arizona “Qualifying Foster Care Charitable Organization” – and we are still the only one in Yavapai County where every dollar raised stays in Yavapai County - which means that cash donations represent a credit against your Arizona State tax obligation up to $1,000.00 in any taxable year for a married couple filing a joint return or $500.00 in any taxable year for a single individual, head of household, or married filing separate - and donors do not need to itemize deductions to qualify. And now one can donate until April 15, 2017 for the 2016 tax year.
There were 194 grants approved to foster children and families totaling $35,616.90. Most of these grants where for basic needs of clothing, beds/bedding, medical, sports activities, camps and education.
Our Prescott Visitation Center is open Monday - Friday from 9:00am - 4:30pm. There are eleven (11) Agencies, up from seven (7) last year utilizing these rooms, with 978.25 hours in use for the year, up from 882.75 hours last year. This allows relatives the opportunity to spend time with their child in a supervised environment.
The Adoption Exchange Mailbox had 25 birth and adoptive family members sign up in 2016. This allows the possibility to have communication between birth and adoptive families in a way that respects the confidentiality of all parties. Over 40 letters were exchanged.
Celebration cards - These are gift cards from local stores that are given to children when they experience a milestone, such as a birthday, improving grades in school, getting along better in the foster home, not wetting the bed for a week, or sleeping through the night in their own bed. Celebration Cards provide much-needed positive reinforcement.
April 5th was the third AZ Gives Day that we participated in with great success, raising $6,028.00 and receiving a matching donation dollar for dollar from an anonymous donor up to $6.000.00, making the grand total $12,028.00. This year the date is April 4th and you can schedule your donation ahead of time at https://www.azgives.org/yavapaicasaforkids
There are two Adoption Day's each year that we had the privilege to support. along with an appreciation lunch in the Spring and a Holiday Dinner in the winter for CASAs.
We also had our 3rd Annual Costume for Kids 5K/1 mile Fun Run/Walk starting and ending at the Courthouse Square on Gurley. We had over 60 participants dressed in costume, jogging through our beautiful downtown Prescott. There were booths from Heritage Park Zoo, Yavapai County Angeles and Clayote Studios. A live radio remote from Magic 99.1fm, free pizza provided by Papa John's Pizza and drinks provided by Coca-Cola. We gave away gift cards/baskets for Best Costume, Best Team Costumes, Best Individual Costumes from many of our downtown sponsors. We also had Fourteen (14) Corporate sponsors for this event. This year it will be on October 15th, mark your calendars!
The Supplemental Clothing Gift Cards were distributed to DCS in September 2016 with 340 gift cards issued in the amount of $34,150.00. The agencies then forwarded these cards to the foster families. We will be doing this project twice a year, once in the Spring and the other in the Fall.
Last year we collaborated with a few other non-profits in town providing volunteers for their events, ie YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, Prevent Child Abuse, Yavapai Humane Society, and The Launch Pad.
We had our second annual GALA held at the Antelope Hills Golf Course in June. There were numerous silent auction and raffle items generously donated by community businesses. We raised over $9,000.00 and cannot thank everyone enough for attending and/or donating to this event. We look forward to seeing you this year on June 10, 2017.
When children are removed from their homes, they often have only the clothes on their backs. We provide emergency clothing cards to the DCS offices, so they can get the children the bare necessities until the foster parent receives the clothing allowance. This past year over $11,000.00 in emergency clothing cards were given directly to placements to provide for these children.
The Holiday Gift Drive was another great success with 21 distribution sites set up all over the Quad City area. Foster families, CASAs and DCS workers were able to come to the distribution site so generously made available to us by the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie #3600, and this wonderful group also provided 67 bicycles for the Gift Drive. These organizations selected special gifts for the very special children we serve ranging from books to bikes, from clothes to toys for kids of all ages. We made gifts and gift cards available to over 250 children in the Prescott/Tri-city area. Additional gifts were distributed through the West Yavapai Guidance Clinic staff and the Coalition for Compassion and Justice. There was even a special distribution to the youth in Yavapai House and in the Independent Living program. We send our special thanks to the “Tree minders” and the distribution helpers, the e-mail and poster drafters and all the rest who made this possible. The kids may not know who the people are who worked so hard - but Yavapai CASA for Kids Foundation does.
In 2015 the Yavapai Juvenile Court embarked on a new project called CODY (Court Orientation for Dependant Youth) which encourages dependent youth to attend their court hearings and familiarize them with the dependency process – to let them know they have a voice and encourage them to use it. The program brings dependent youth age 12 and up to court after hours for a presentation in the courtroom which describes how the court moves through dependency process and the roles of each of the participants. Presenters are: the Judge, an AAG, a parent’s attorney, a child’s attorney, a child’s GAL, a CASA, a DCS worker and a youth (foster graduate). The youth are encouraged to be sure all participants in the dependency system know what they want and need. Yavapai CASA for Kids Foundation financially supports this program by providing dinner for all participants after the court presentation. The dinner has special importance for the youth because they can talk directly to the Judge, attorneys and other presenters in an informal setting. There were two CODY presentations in 2016 and so far one in 2017.
December is a very busy time of year, besides the gift drive we also participated in the annual Stocking Stuffer Bazaar on 12/17th, held at the Armory on Gurley. Again, this year you could purchase ornaments made by foster children and alumni. We raised over $400.00 and next year we are looking to host a craft day where volunteers can come together and create crafts to sell at this unique event.
Our grant committee applied for 14 grants and we were awarded 9 totaling in the amount of $31,650.00. CONGRATULATIONS grant committee on a very successful year!
What can you look forward to from us in 2017? This year the Board has even more goals set.
We will continue to provide foster families with much needed necessities through our grant request program. We will fund Adoption Day's along with giving gift cards for emergency clothing. The Supplemental Clothing Gift Cards will be given out twice this year. We are hoping to increase the hours that the Prescott Visitation Center is available to children in foster care and their families, and will be looking into opening another visiting center in Prescott Valley that can be open on nights and weekends.
We would also like to continue to expand our social media presence with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and continue our quarterly newsletter. So if you haven't liked us, are not following us, or have not pinned us, please do so as this will keep you up to date on things happening with Yavapai CASA for Kids Foundation.
Specific dates or months to mark on your calendars are below.
AZ Gives Day will be Tuesday, April 4th
Spring GALA Fundraiser on June 10th at Antelope Hills Golf Course
Craft Day for Christmas Bazaar - TBD
4th Annual 5K Fun run/walk will be October 15th in beautiful downtown Prescott
December - Holiday Gift Drive & Stocking Stuffer Bazaar - TBD
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A BOARD MEMBER OR VOLUNTEERING FOR ANY OF OUR EVENTS, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO GIVE US A CALL OR CONTACT US BY E-MAIL! WE ARE ACTIVELY SEEKING AN EXPERIENCED GRANT WRITER AND WEBMASTER TO HELP US WITH THE FOUNDATION. IF YOU HAVE THESE TALENTS AND WANT TO HELP KIDS IN FOSTER CARE PLEASE CONTACT US. WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU!!!
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