Speak Up For Kids CASA 5K

Put on your favorite running or walking shoes
and Speak Up For Kids in 2010!

Speak Up For Kids CASA 5K events across the state raise funds and friends for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate®) programs whose volunteers speak up for abused and neglected children in court and the foster care system. The Speak Up For Kids CASA 5K Series is proudly presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas and coordinated by Texas CASA. All proceeds from each CASA 5K event benefit the local CASA program and bolster their efforts to recruit and train CASA volunteers.

Since the Series began in 2006, more than 13,000 Texans and local sponsors have joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Texas CASA in supporting their CASA 5K, and the series is set to cross the $1 million mark in 2010 in funds raised to provide quality advocacy for abused and neglected children in Texas.
CASA 5K races are followed by family fun events to raise the community’s awareness of child abuse and neglect, and recruit volunteers, featuring activities for children, and Blue Bear and the Care Van where available from Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

CASA volunteers are ordinary people from all walks of life who commit to helping one child or set of siblings through the foster care system and into a safe, permanent home as soon as possible. Last year in Texas, 5,648 trained CASA volunteers advocated for 19,818 abused and neglected children on their journey to a safe, permanent home. Our vision is to some day provide a CASA volunteer to every child who needs one in Texas.

Your participation makes a difference! So, walk, run or jog in one of these events in a community near you—and help speak up for a child.

“Because CASA has developed one of the most innovative models to deal with the enormous challenges of child abuse and neglect, we believe supporting CASA by sponsoring the ‘Speak-Up for Kids 5K’ series is our best hope for protecting children caught in the cycle of abuse. As a Presenting Sponsor of ‘Speak-Up for Kids,’ we know that both our corporate and our personal volunteer investments are yielding lifetime dividends. That’s what makes us proud of this collaboration and honored to be a key supporter of the entire Texas CASA network.”

Darren Rodgers
President
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

“These kids need someone to fight for them -for what they need- for what is best for them so that they’ll have a future that is better than their past.”

Marilyn Dietrich, CASA volunteer

“I can think of few greater things than to help a child in need. That child is our future. You can make the difference of a lifetime- in a child’s life and your own.”

Gregg Dawson, CASA volunteer