CASA 2nd Annual Beach Ball Fundraiser

The Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County organization held its 2^nd Annual Beach Ball fundraiser at the San Ysidro Ranch Montecito on Sunday, November 9, from 12 to 2 pm.

This event was founded by Jackie Johnson McBride of The Weather Chef and Allison LaBarge for the purpose of generating funds for the CASA SBC foster care children holiday party and gifts for the foster children. Each child receives help writing their wish list for Santa Claus, and each child receives gifts from their wish list to a total of $150. This year there are 650 children in the program.

The short program commenced with a welcome by Community Engagement Director Kira Cosio. She introduced the event co-chairs Johnson McBride and LaBarge.Johnson McBride recapped her top moments from last year’s CASA SBC holiday party for the foster children who received their gifts from Santa. She thanked everyone for making these children’s dreams come true this year via their donations. LaBarge echoed the sentiments with her favorite capture of the children’s holiday party, and said, “These holiday presents for the foster children are a symbol of hope. What you are giving is love in action, and can change a life.”

Closing remarks were presented by CASA SBC Executive Director Kim Colby Davis, who has been with the organization for 19 years, starting out as a volunteer. Colby Davis was awarded the 2023 Program Director of the Year by the National CASA/GAL Association for Children. Continuing with the theme for the event, she presented an experience she had with a foster care child and the child’s parents that made a difference. 

I spoke with Colby Davis at the event and asked her to define CASA SBC for our readers. She explained, “CASA SBC has grown exponentially over the years and is now serving 85% of children in foster care. Events like this really bring everything up a notch, and the community can participate in the care of foster children. The unique thing about CASA SBC is our whole entire agency is the program that serves foster children. We stay mission focused to ensure that every child in the foster care system has an advocate beside them from start to finish so they grow up in a safe environment. CASA SBC is the 5^th largest CASA in California.”

At the event, there were faux holiday trees with the names of the children on gift tags. Guests selected the child [tag] to whom they would make a donation. Setting up the holiday trees, table décor, and selling raffle tickets were the UCSB Gamma Rho Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta women who volunteered their time.

There were silent auction items from Ivy Cove, Lucky’s Restaurant, jewelry by Daniel Gibbings, and art by Pedro De La Cruz.

Seen at the event were Brittany Meadth, Nicole Jordan, Liz Weiner, Erica Klaritch-Bryant, Sara Brennan, Sima Morrison, Macauley Becker, Brooke Bollinger Herman, Vanessa Ringel, Mally Chakola, Lindsay Parton, Sierra Muller, Marisa Marquina Garber, Elisabeth Crain, and Robin Looper.

411: www.sbcasa.org

The mission of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County is to assure a safe, permanent, nurturing home for all abused and/or neglected children by providing a highly trained volunteer to advocate for them in the court system.

And that’s a wrap till next week! 

Do email me if you have society news or an experience we can do together! Xx JAC