Whole Foods CASA Appreciation Day

Contributed by: Donna Huntsman

WOW! We asked you to shop, shop, shop on Wednesday, September 16th and boy did you ever!

We had a great turn out at Whole Foods Market on Washtenaw Avenue. Whole Foods Market generously donated 5% of total sales raising $4,508.25 for Friends of CASA.

THANK YOU to everyone for your support and commitment to our CASA kids.

It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces shopping and supporting the most vulnerable population in our community – our CASA children who have suffered from abuse and neglect. “I forwarded the email reminder to all my co-workers,” I was told multiple times by donors and volunteers alike. And, it worked! Thank you for spreading the word and recruiting individuals unfamiliar with CASA to lend their support for the day.

It was a great way to bring attention and awareness to child abuse in our community. We had four individuals request more information on becoming a CASA advocate and several more interested in joining our mailing list.

A special thank you to MaryAnn Nisley and Thea Ermalovich at Whole Foods Market for making the event possible. Your support allows CASA to recruit, train and support advocates…a voice for a child!

Daimler Financial Services Jeans Day

Contributed by: Donna Huntsman

Daimler Financial Services selected CASA of Washtenaw as the recipient of their charity jeans’ day collection. Benefiting nonprofit organizations rotate on a monthly basis and Friends of CASA was nominated for the month of August as the charity beneficiary. Employees donated $240.00 and our CASA kids are the fortunate recipients of Daimler Financial Services’ commitment to social responsibility.

As a finance company, people might assume that ROI is strictly interpreted as Return on Investment. At Daimler Financial Services it means so much more: Return on Imagination, Return on Inspiration and Return on INVOLVEMENT. To the employees of Daimler Financial Services, being involved in the community is a vital part of their business.

Thank you to the employees of Daimler Financial Services for your commitment and belief in our mission. Your support makes it possible for CASA to recruit, train and support advocates…a voice for a child!

CASA Community Member of the Week

Name: Trevor Brewster

Role: Board Member – Secretary of the Friends of CASA

Picture: Trevor, with girlfriend Tracy Robertson

What interested you about the CASA program?

The mission of CASA immediately caught my attention. The fact they/we are able to have such a great impact on children that are less fortunate in the Washtenaw County area is very important to me.

Tell us a little bit about your previous Work and/or Volunteer Experience and/or Education:

I started my own Financial Practice in Ann Arbor about 5 years ago, which includes tax preparation, accounting, and other financial services. I was born and raised in Ann Arbor, MI, then attended Colorado State University, and returned to Ann Arbor about 6 years ago. I have coached baseball at the high school level well as some very successful youth baseball teams. I enjoy working with working with kids and making a difference in the local community.

Hobbies/Fun Fact(s) about Yourself:

I enjoy playing golf, softball, and reading books in the areas of finance and taxation.

What is your favorite quote of all time?

“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” – John Shedd

“What we learn with pleasure we never forget” – Louis Mercier

How did you hear about the CASA Program?

I had the pleasure of meeting Cheri Dunn (Friends of CASA board member), through a networking group that I created called A2BI. We started discussing CASA and its impact in Washtenaw County and the conversation sparked my interest. After talking to Cheri and Marianne and seeing their passion on this subject, there was no question this was something that I wanted to become involved with.

CASA Booth at Ann Arbor Art Fair 2009

Contributed by: Emily Mills


This year we traded in the red, white, and blue umbrella for a really (awesome) CASA tent. We enlisted the help of our attention-seeking "Forgotten Children" and fitted our table with a CASA tablecloth - which kindly doubled as a blanket for Angie (Friends of CASA board member) and me on Saturday morning.

While we didn't end up selling tickets for our Rockin' the CASA event, the save-the-date cards caught everyone's attention. Thank you, Cheri!! They are so fabulous! We recruited some volunteers and several more were interested in joining our mailing list for more information on CASA.

While I didn't get the opportunity to meet everyone who volunteered for the Art Fair, those I met were outstanding. I must extend a special thanks to Lakshmi (CASA volunteer) - Thank you for holding down the fort when the promised Art Fair storm hit.

I admit I'm sorta new to the nonprofit world, though I've been interested in it for some time. I'm not sure why I'm surprised by how great everyone is, but I guess it's because I haven't been somewhere before where everyone is really just so genuine and great. It's amazing. And I love it. I just admire and am so proud to get on board with the spirit of this work. The spirit of all the volunteers. And the spirit of the cause.

Thank you to everyone who joined me at the Art Fair and made our booth a success: Jane, Marianne, Lakshmi, Renee, Susan, Cheri, Trevor, Ava, Bob, Dean, Deb, Julie, Caroline, Gini, Linda, Angie, Donna...(and Renee, Gini, Donna, and Ava again) for all your time!

CASA Community Member of the Week

Name: Emily Mills
Role: CASA AmeriCorps Associate

What interested you about the CASA program?

The opportunity to make a difference!

Tell us a little bit about your previous Work and/or Volunteer Experience and/or Education:

I am pleased and excited to be working in the non-profit sector for the first time.

Hobbies/Fun Fact(s) about Yourself:

I enjoy thrift stores, fixing and sprucing up run down old furniture, collaging, walking, photography and good company.

What is your favorite quote of all time?

"Throughout the ages man has but little heeded the advice of the wise men. He has been - fatefully, if not willfully - less virtuous, less constant, less rational, less peaceful than he knows how to be, than he is fully capable of being. He has been led astray from the ways of peace and brotherhood by his addiction to concepts and attitudes of narrow nationalism, racial and religious bigotry, greed and lust for power. Despite this, despite the almost continuous state of war to which bad human relations have condemned him, he has made steady progress. In his scientific genius, man has wrought material miracles and has transformed his world. He has harnessed nature and has developed great civilizations. But he has never learned very well how to live with himself. The values he has created have been predominantly materialistic; his spiritual values have lagged far behind. He has demonstrated little spiritual genius and has made little progress toward the realization of human brotherhood. In the contemporary atomic age, this could prove man's fatal weakness. Alfred Nobel, a half-century ago, foresaw with prophetic vision that if the complacent mankind of his day could, with equanimity, contemplate war, the day would soon inevitably come when man would be confronted with the fateful alternative of peace or reversion to the Dark Ages. Man may well ponder whether he has not now reached that stage. Man's inventive genius has so far outreached his reason - not his capacity to reason but his willingness to apply reason - that the peoples of the world find themselves precariously on the brink of total disaster."

--Ralph Bunche, Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1950

How did you hear about the CASA Program?

AmeriCorps.