Last week was Volunteer Appreciation week. Our organization as a whole, and all of the children that our advocates serve, appreciate our volunteers each and every day – the appreciation we have for our advocates cannot be expressed in just one week. However, there was one person who had something special to say about our volunteers last week. Governor Chris Sununu took the time out of his regular COVID-19 press conference to declare Wednesday, April 22 as CASA Appreciation Day. In his conference, he stated that, “We need (CASA) advocates fighting for these kids in very tough situations in very tough times. And we just can’t thank the folks at CASA enough and want to recognize them. They continue to do great work for some of the most vulnerable kids in the entire state.”
With the public admiration from our state’s governor, WMUR covered the speech and announced CASA Appreciation day on the news! This prompted many of our CASA children, parents, and foster families to extend their gratitude to our volunteers for the hard work that they’re doing.
The appreciation for our advocates did not stop there. CASA of New Hampshire’s Chairperson Amy Coveno extended her appreciation as well, saying “It is encouraging to see how creative and committed our CASA Volunteers are to the mission – which is the safety of the children of New Hampshire.” Not only that, Amy and CASA CEO Marty Sink went live on Facebook to discuss the urgent need for advocates, especially in the months to come. Once social distancing ends and victimized children are no longer shielded behind the walls of their unsafe homes, we expect that the amount of abuse cases in New Hampshire is going to rise, making recruitment more important than ever.
With COVID-19 in full swing, our advocates have not missed a beat finding new and creative ways to advocate for their CASA children from a distance. Some are reading books over the phone, others are drawing pictures to send in the mail. They’re all attending virtual meetings and court hearings. Our advocates are essential to our organization and the well being of New Hampshire’s victimized children, which is why we are grateful that the governor declared a day specifically for them – it was positively well deserved.