Project Make Amber a Better CASA

Hi Everyone,

If haven't you met me before, then let me tell you a little about myself.  My name is Amber Anderson, and I live in the small and amazing town of Ripley, West Virginia.  I have lived here for ten years, and I am a wife  and mom to three sweet girls.  In my spare time I volunteer in my daughter's pre school class, and I am also a CASA.

What do you know about being a CASA?  Some people don't even know what being a CASA means, so let me give you a brief expalination: CASA means court appointed special advocate. I advocate for abused and neglected children in my judicial circuit.  I am the eyes and the ears for our judge who handles the abuse and neglect cases in our area.  But more importantly, I am the voice of the child who has been in situations that you would have nightmares about.  I form relationships with the children who I am lucky enough to work with, and often, I am the only person they can trust.  I put many hours into being an advocate, and I take the role very seriously.  I have been a CASA since 2011 and I have advocated for twenty children, including my current cases. My goal is to be able to lose count of the number of children I have advocated for.  I want to be an advocate as long as there are children who need me.

I am not CPS. I am thier advocate, and  I put many hours into ensuring that our court knows every important detail of the childs case.  I make reccomendations that are always in the best interest of the child that I am advocationg for.

In June, National CASA will be holding thier annual conference, in Dallas Texas.  This conference will last for three days, and it is full of work shops to help me to become the best CASA that I can be.  There will be great speakers, and I can gain knowledege and tools to not only improve my ability to advocate for abused and neglected children, but also to pass along  the tools from this pricless learning experience on to my other fellow CASA volunteers.

The cost of thise conference (including plane fare) is  about $700.  I need $325 for registration, and approximately $300-400 for my plane tickets.  This may not seem like much, but being a stay at home mom, I just can't afford the cost.  So I am asking for help to cover the costs.  I can assure to anyone that donates that you are going to help me to make a  major difference of the lives of as many abused and neglected children as I possibly can.

Please consider my request for donations, and thank you so much for taking the time to read this. :)