Great Falls Program Hosts
"Stay-At-Home Garden Party"

It's finally summer in Montana. The lilacs are giving their last burst of color but peonies and irises abound. As the weather heats up, people are spending more and more time outside - in the garden, at sporting events, backyard BBQs and the like. Summer can be a busy time of year and maybe you're ready for a little break in the constant onslaught of activity. The Great Falls CASA program offers you the option of participating in an exciting fundraiser while having a quiet night at home. The Stay-At-Home Garden Party is a great way to contribute to an important cause without adding one more night out to your already full schedule. Visit the Great Falls CASA-CAN website for more information and to read what the Great Falls Tribune has to say about the event.

National CASA's
Forgotten Children Campaign

Every day, 850 children enter America’s foster care system because they cannot live safely at home. If this fact surprises you, it is probably because it is rarely reported or talked about unless a terrible tragedy occurs. In a very real sense, these children are all but forgotten.

The Forgotten Children Campaign, a new initiative by National CASA, kicked off last month with a dramatic week-long media event in Washington, D.C.  The purpose of the event was to put a face to the thousands of abused and neglected “forgotten” children who need caring, permanent homes.  

National CASA produced 4,250 life-sized stand-up displays representing images of children in care. Six versions of the stand-up images illustrated the diversity of children in foster care and the over-representation of children of color.

Beginning Monday, May 19, 850 of these images appeared on the grounds of the Washington Monument, representing the number of children who enter the foster care system each day. For the remainder of the week, through Friday, May 23, 850 more cutouts of children appeared each day. These cutouts represent the children who entered foster care during the work week. Each child held a placard with a message, obtained from a recent national focus group study of current foster youth, and a call to action.

CASA of Montana Board member, former foster child, and FosterClub All-Star, Schylar Canfield was honored at the event with one of the 2008 Outstanding Youth Leadership awards. He wrote that "the event on the National Mall and the awards ceremony largely sponsored by National CASA was incredible and the life-like figurines of youth were quite the visual display and were very powerful."

The cutouts were displayed at the National CASA Association conference on June 7-10, along with photos/video of the display on the Mall. The cutouts were also made available for participants in CASA Meets Congress on June 10 to take to congressional offices for display in those offices for several days. To learn more about the National CASA Association, visit www.nationalcasa.org.

Film Opportunity

Attention Program Directors and anyone interested in putting together an educational film for your CASA program! Filmmaker John Upton, who worked with Bitterroot CASA earlier this year, will be returning to Montana in July and would love to collaborate with other local CASA programs. Upton helped Bitterroot CASA put together a short film that can be viewed on their website at www.bitterrootcasa.org. The film got a great response at the Bitterroot Light of Hope event last month, especially because of its focus on a child's perspective. Contact Julie at (406) 961-4535 for more information about this exciting opportunity!