2008 Rock the CASA Concert

Contributed by: Ferlie Yruma

On Oct. 31, 2008, the wildly successful Rock the CASA concert was held at Mendelssohn Theatre. Rock the CASA is a variety show including performances by the best entertainment groups on the University of Michigan campus. Student performances included an array of comedians, a capella groups, bands, and dance groups. 100% of ticket sales benefit CASA of Washtenaw County.

Please check out the 2008 Rock the CASA Photo album below:

From 2008 Rock the CASA Concert

Thanks to Kappa Alpha Theta for providing some of the pictures!
_________________________________________________________

YOU ROCK!!

CASA of Washtenaw County would like to thank the following event supporters. The concert would not have been successful without them!


SPONSOR:

Kappa Alpha Theta - Eta Chapter annually holds a variety show called Rock the CASA to raise money for CASA of Washtenaw County. For information about Kappa Alpha Theta, please check out their website: http://www.umich.edu/%7Etheta/


PERFORMERS: (ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Amazin' Blue:

Amazin' Blue performers: Elise Amato, Camila Ballario, Caitlin Bloom, Jessica Bloom, Austin Chrzanowski, Joe Dimuzio, Gabriel Fazio, Bethany Felder, Lance Fletke, Andres Holder, Kirsten Knisely, Jake McClory, Adam Moskal, Peter Preonas

Amazin' Blue has a big concert on Saturday, Nov. 15th (8 PM) at Rackham auditorium. Tickets can be bought at the door or at MUTO (Michigan Union Ticket Office). They have also just released a new CD (Lost in Sound). For more information, please check out their website, www.amazinblue.org

Below is a video snippet of Amazin' Blue's 2008 Rock the CASA performance:




Cadence


Cadence performers: Michelle Chirby, Danielle Berridge, Kaylie Hanson (Co-President), Laura Thompson, Lara Leitner, Megan Argillander, Megan Avesian, Cassie Ruch, Sarah Hardy, Sophie Kruz, Sarah Schleicher, Sabrina Tharani

Cadence is a modern and lyrical dance company at the University of Michigan. For more information about them, please go to http://sitemaker.umich.edu/cadencedancecompany/home


ComCo


ComCo performers: Mallory Bradford, Alex Weatherup, Erica Ranade, Adnan Pirzada, Jamielyn Beatty, Teddi Milan, Alex Stuessy, Spencer Smith, Matthew Blinstrub, Jordan Rochelson

ComCo is University of Michigan's oldest and best improv group. For more information about Comco, please check out their website: http://www.umuac.org/comedy/index2.html


EnCore


EnCore performers: Adie Angrist, Keith Binion, Lauren Boumaroun, Gabi Brazg, Akiya Brown, Jonathan Choi, Karl Josef Co, Sasha Compère, Kevin Duong, Liane Hajduch, Tynika Johnson, Lara Leitner, Carmen Loo, Maddie Moore, Trang Nguyen, Courtney Power, Jasmine Sadler, Rachel Wehner, Lauren Wolfe, Amanda Wong, Talun Zeitoun

EnCore is a multicultural, coed, hip hop dance group based at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. For more information, please check out their website: http://www.encoreumich.com/EnCore.html Also, please check out their YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/encoreumich

Below is a video snippet of EnCore's 2008 Rock the CASA performance:




The Friars


Friars performers: (1) Andrew Mueller, (2) Sean Morris, (3) Andy Ballard, (4) Drew Bollinger, (5) Danny Dunlap, (6) Abraham Heller Hiatt, (7) Alex Weatherup, (8) Eric Emeott

For more information about the Friars, please check out their website (http://www.umich.edu/~ummgc/friars/index.html) and their YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TheFriars

Below is a video snippet of The Friars's 2008 Rock the CASA performance:




FunKtion


FunKtion performers: Tomas Kim, Andrew Krebsbach, Justin Tien, Steve Lai, Anthony Baber, Terence Chua, James Dean, Vincent Giang

Loosen your hips, unhinge your joints, stretch your legs and get ready to dance. Nod your head, clap your hands, move you feet and melt with the beat as FunKtion brings you it's unique blend of fun-loving entertainment. From street corners to stage center, funKtion has been doing it right since '99. For more information about FunKtion, please check out their website: http://www.umfunktion.com/


Great Divide


Great Divide performers: Teddy Grossman-Guitar,Vocals; Jeff Leibovich-Keyboards; Joey Gaon-Lead Guitar; Josh Teitelbaum-Drums; Hiro Sato-Bass; Jake Kenowitz- Trumbone
Eric Schindler- Saxaphone

Great Divide is influenced by the traditional roots of Blues, Country, Soul, Funk or otherwise, good ol' fashioned Rock and Roll. Great Divide strives to preserve the elements of Rock's rich history, while exposing a new generation to the experience of their brand of honest, down-home music. For more information, please check out their MySpace site: http://www.myspace.com/greatdivideannarbor


RhythM


RhythM performers: Kristin Landsiedel (Director), Laura Langberg (Executive Board Member), Melanie Chapekis (Executive Board Member), Jessica Rapp (Executive Board Member), Whitney Switch, Brittany Turner, Liz Hatfield, Rachel Brigell, Chelsea Kimball, Lauren Metille, Samantha Gardner

RhythM is a student-run performance group comprised of passionate and dedicated, advanced tap dancers. For more information, please e-mail them at rhythmtap@umich.edu and/or rhythmexec@umich.edu

You are invited at our Annual Event!

WHAT: ROCKIN' THE CASA

Grab your blue jeans and get your dancing shoes ready for a grand ol' time!

Think Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen and Kid Rock mixed with some Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood and Alan Jackson...so you know you're in for some boot stompin' fun!

Learn some line dances, break out your old rock ‘n roll moves, or sit back and tap your feet as our DJ spins it all.

Don't forget to check out our auction items, bring a bottle of wine to the event, and buy a raffle ticket for a chance to win a wine cellar!

WHEN: SATURDAY, NOV. 15, 2008, 7 - 11 PM

BBQ BUFFET, OPEN BAR (beer, wine, & soft beverages)

Doors and auction open at 7 PM.
Raffle tickets are available at 7 PM.
Grub starts at 7:30 PM.
Dancing begins at 8 PM (Lessons on the hour).


WHERE: WASHTENAW COUNTY FAIR GROUNDS, BUILDING A

Please click here for directions.

BUY TICKETS ONLINE:

www.casawashtenaw.org/2008rockinthecasa

QUESTIONS? Please call 734-222-6908.

Most Recent Washtenaw County CASA Statistics

Contributed by: Ferlie Yruma

- 78 kids served
- 26 volunteers actively advocating for kids
- 11 on leave but still interested or actively working on fundraising and community awareness
- Class of 6 - 8 new volunteers to begin training on Oct. 28th

Please Welcome our New CASA Volunteers!

Contributed by: Ferlie Yruma

This past summer, the Washtenaw County CASA Program swore in 6 new volunteers!

Please welcome: Nike A., Sherry A., Jane B., Amanda F., Debra S., and Patricia S.

Please check out the photo album below for pictures of the Swearing In Ceremony.

Thank you, Patricia, for the photos!

Interested in becoming a CASA volunteer? Our next CASA volunteer training begins on Oct. 28th! For more information, please call Ava at 734-222-3734.

2008 National CASA Annual Conference

Article Written by: Ava A.

Held in Washington, D.C. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel (home to the Presidential Inaugural Ball), National CASA’s 27^th annual conference brought together over 1400 CASA volunteers, staff, board members and interested parties from across the country.

Three days of workshops, exhibits, speakers and entertainment was topped off by an exciting visit to Capital Hill and an opportunity to speak directly to members of Congress and their legislative staff. There, CASA staff had the opportunity to personally acquaint their legislators with the work of CASA programs on behalf of abused and neglected children.

Ava Adler met personally with State Representative Tim Wahlberg and his legislative assistant, Jessica Van Beek along with staff from Ingham County CASA who shares his district.

Some highlights of the program included:

• Alma J.Powell (wife of Colin Powell) who spoke at the opening luncheon about her work, on a national level, on behalf of youth;
  
• Steve L Robbins, PhD., a powerful and humorous story teller who spoke to us about diversity and cultural competence; and
  
• a fantastic performance by young people from the Duke Ellington School of Arts who put on a Motown Review that rocked!!

Workshops were organized by tracks (fundraising, public policy, volunteer skills and resources and cultural competency) and included:

• “When my CASA child breaks the law-what now?” ,
• “Developing a Personal Donor Cultivation Process” ,
  
• “Opening Doors Project: Improving the Legal System’s Approach to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Youth in Foster Care” and
  
• “Considerations for Transitioning Youth”.

Of course, there was also the opportunity to visit the sites in DC like the Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Washington Monument where National CASA launched a dramatic exhibit which helped the public understand how many children enter our foster care system each day. For one week, National CASA staff, volunteers and supporters placed 850 life-size cutout displays of foster children on the Mall.

These displays represented the number of children who enter the foster care system each day; six versions illustrated the diversity of children in care. By the end of the week, 4,250 life-size cutouts stood on the Mall. Each held a placard with a message and a call to action. These FORGOTTEN CHILDREN cutouts may eventually tour the country and be available to display in local communities.

Next year, the national conference will be held in Denver, CO April 25-28, 2009, at the Sheraton Denver Hotel It’s theme is "Taking Advocacy to a Higher Level".

Please check out the National CASA Conference photo album below!

Photos courtesy of Ava A.

Non-Profit Gives Itself a Google Makeover

Source:
8/28/2008 07:21:00 AM

By Eileen Duffy, AdWords Associate

Back in May, we introduced a site called Google for Non-Profits, to showcase the tools organizations can use to raise funds and collaborate easily and efficiently. These tools, we hoped, would enable non-profits to focus less on creaky email systems or lost documents -- and more on their missions.

For at least one non-profit, this was old news. Months before we unveiled our non-profit site, Marianne Clauw, who chairs CASA Washtenaw, an organization pairing volunteers with children in the local court system -- learned about Google products through an employee in our Ann Arbor office. With a website that she now compares to a "dusty storefront" and data sitting in a "scarily unsecure, un-backed up" state, she remembers, "I could see right away that we needed to switch to Google services."

Clauw and her colleague Ferlie Yruma used Google Page Creator (now Google Sites) to develop a shiny new website, complete with a YouTube video, a Google Calendar that reflects real-time updates, and a Checkout button allowing users to donate with a few clicks of a mouse. They applied and earned a Google Grant to run free AdWords advertising. As volunteer applications and donations trickled in, they began using Gmail and Docs to streamline the way they worked internally.

Here's what they have to say about the experience:

"Non-profits are not competitive by nature,” observes Clauw. “But we live in a competitive landscape: for donors, for volunteers, for grants. What we've done with Google is a major step in being competitive.”

When CASA Washtenaw competes at a high level, Washtenaw County kids win. And for this non-profit, that's the biggest prize of all.

Check out the Google video featuring CASA of Washtenaw County

June 26th Garden Party

Contributed by: Ferlie Yruma

CASA of Washtenaw County extends a big THANK-YOU to Jan L., Anne S., and Knut S., who hosted a garden party at Jan’s home in Dexter. Jan donated a party to an American Red Cross auction, Anne and Knut bought it, and they turned it into a CASA fundraiser.

The garden was gorgeous and the friends were fabulous! Thanks for helping two local nonprofits!

For pictures of the event, please check out the June 2008 Garden Party photo album (right column of this blog)!

CASA in the News - Dr. Phil

Contributed by: Ferlie Yruma

Earlier this year, National CASA CEO Michael Piraino was interviewed on Dr. Phil. To watch the video, please click here.

Psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, the host of the very successful syndicated daytime talk show DR. PHIL, and his wife Robin McGraw, bestselling author and frequent contributor to DR. PHIL, were named official spokespersons for the National CASA Forgotten Children campaign in May, 2008. For more information, please click here.

Image sources: Piraino, Dr. Phil & Robin McGraw

CASA Community Member of the Week

Name: Marianne C.

Role: Friends of CASA Board Chair & CASA Volunteer

Picture: Marianne C. with husband, Dan


What interested you about the CASA program?

That it was for children in the county in a vulnerable situation. It seems there is always an awful story in the news about foster children being further abused, and the CASA program is a way to directly help these children.


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

20 years as a consultant, managing large systems integration projects. Switched to the nonprofit sector in 2005 when I joined Nonprofit Enterprise at Work. Currently work as a NEW board advisor for nonprofits. I have volunteered primarily in my children’s schools and for church organizations. I’m currently a youth counselor at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor.

Hobbies/Fun Fact(s) about Yourself:

I love to read and garden. I’m perfectly happy digging weeds for hours at a time.

What is your favorite quote of all time?

“The distance is nothing. It is only the first step that is difficult.”
- Madame du Deffand, French intellectual and writer, 16^th century.

How did you hear about the CASA Program?

I had an assistant who was a graduate student at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, and she had an internship at the Toledo CASA program. I also read about the Washtenaw CASA program in an Ann Arbor News profile of Ashwin Patel.

Certificate of Tribute Awarded by State of Michigan Governor

Contributed by: Ferlie Yruma

We were honored to receive Governor Granholm’s Certificate of Tribute recently, recognizing the CASA program as an effective way of ensuring that courts have access to thorough and reliable information on the circumstances of abused and neglected children. Click here to see exactly what the certificate says!