three million that is the number of children reported each year as victims of abuse and neglect in the united states hello my name is for del karpen fund raiser for the washington county casa for kids over three hundred of these children are living here in washington county and declared dependent in the juvenile system these children need our help to give them a voice in the court system and to speak up for their best interest currently washington county c volunteers court appointed special advocates advocate for only eighty seven of those three hundred children volunteers are trained to work as fact finders then write reports for the judge prior to a hearing working as that extra set of eyes and ears the goal of the casa program would be to have a casa advocate each child who has experienced abuse and neglect in washington county the cost of staff provide supervision and individual support for the volunteers in advocating for these abused and neglected children throughout the year cost of the kids holds fund raising events to help generate funds to an able the organization to continue training community volunteers so that they can advocate for the best interest of these children april is child abuse prevention month this year we will be holding our annual spring gala fundraiser chefs for april twenty fifth at bella sara it will be our seventh chef for casa fund raising and we we help with your help you can help us support to continue the stability in these children's lives so that they can lead normal productive lives my guests today are the chefs and own who also are concerned community members themselves who have taken the time out of their busy schedule to be with us they will be talking about the restaurants they represent as well as the menu for the event or also fortunate to have with us they've been of south who is executive director for the washington county chapter of the kids as well as a staff member and casa volunteer herself so right now i'd like to introduce to you vivian good morning good morning  for having me here well first of all i want to thank you for what you the time that you put into this program i'm sure i speak for everyone who's involved in the program thanking you for your hard work thing to do can you tell everyone that's watching right now exactly a little bit more about the program well the costs of court appointed special advocate is a national program that has a state overview and but each program runs individually so in the state of pennsylvania there are twenty casa programs of which casa for kids in washington county is one of them we are nonprofit we get our funding from wonderful events like chefs for process that you help start and run for us and we get grants from different types of organizations we're an independent entity we bring to the court an additional set of eyes in the years about where the children are and what's happening with them and we make my recommendations that the judge may or may not take into account when when they have a hearing our efforts are to find forever homes for these children now can anyone be accos is a vetting process we make sure that the people are qualified on all kinds of levels to be a child's advocate at that point they're sworn in by the judge and they're considered a friend of the court case and we are in need of more volunteers i know that are always in need of more volunteers currently we have thirty nine volunteers with those eighty seven children which is great and they are really committed people to advocate for those children but as i said there are more children that could use a voice in our dependency system ok and i know also we have an office an office here in washington so besides casa volunteers we probably can use maybe anyone else that would care to volunteer in the office absolutely we are very small staff we're lean and mean as i say really great job but we do have people that want to volunteer on another level come into the office and help us with whatever kinds of work we need that way as well ok and it doesn't matter how many hours a week is available for them what so ever works in their schedule absolutely we're very flexible and we're all also very welcoming to people to support us in that way we're also looking for anyone who may want us to speak to their group or organization about events of all shapes and sizes particularly weddings social events corporate events and certainly charity and fund raising events i've done pretty much since day one so well i love the theme i mean it's tuscany you walk into bella community brings to this is incredible i mean well and i thank you because you know you you have weddings there and all kinds of you know bomb hits fizz and all kinds of events they actually and for you to you know give us a night is for our fundraiser is incredible and we thank you for delicious absolutely and just the atmosphere i mean it makes it so easy for us have a fundraiser there because there's like we don't have any decorating because everything is already in the atmosphere is fantastic or is worth your volunteer as well and it's like clockwork millions of people face orthodontic problems left untreated they can detract from dental physical and emotional health detection and treatment by an orthodontist is the key to preventing and correcting these problems with two to three years of advanced specialized untreated hearing loss can keep your loved ones from enjoying what they cherish most that came here don't let that happen speak up about hearing loss you'll be glad you did my wife and i think our son drinks too much we hate to see him wasting his life the therapist told us to try al anon family groups where we can find understanding and support he was right it means a lot to be with people who understand what you're going through are you troubled by someone's drinking you might be surprised at what you could learn in an al anon family group meeting from people just like you call one eight hundred four al anon or visit al anon family groups dot org simple moments are what make every day count because of how you were giving to casa and you do every year i want you to i'm so glad you had this opportunity to tell let everyone know who you are the successful people behind your successful restaurants and you give so much to the community through your so well thank you again for doing this my pleasure i mean we really appreciate it and ok well we're going to move on we already spoke to jason so we'll get back to jason fus i want everyone to  yeah i've lived here for thirteen years now and just being a business owner in this area you have to give back to the community wanted community to give to you exactly and that's how i've always felt in life giving is it is and it's only ones that actual place i mean i feel so are you being with the three of you here that you are doing this for us is incredible you know you're you're upscale you know i'm a food and that you are giving to a fundraiser is just incredible  are blessed to have all of you doing this so thank you thank you again and again and jason you already told us about your place but it's so great that you know you're giving us the venue i mean that is very we have to we have to not god these people are lucky coming that night because you know it's a donation their money comes you know goes towards charity and they're getting food entertainment and we're very realities to plate that dessert last year that was beautiful and you never know what the desserts going to be until that night you know he said he likes to see you shifts to plan the menu and then he works around you and he says he sees what will complement their dinner incredible event it's going to be april twenty fifth at bella sarah and doors open at six thirty we're going to have raffles and door prizes in chinese an event we also have an american idol semifinalist from two thousand and twelve adam brock to join so he is a jazz singer and so he will be there with his trio and so the entertainment is phenomenal i'm sure on your screen you can see the phone number our website we really plead with all of you within the sound of my voice all you community members to please mark your calendars and look check out the website or call the number that you see and get your tickets invite people it's such a worthy cause we're helping children that really need our help  and this is our seventh year doing this and it's been great and every year the numbers get bigger and bigger and bigger and what's going to happen and bill is there when we reach four hundred four hundred after four hundred we move it soon up stairs d above that and so you know work cited and we just want you to all be there and partake in it because it is a really really fun event at bella sara so we'll see april twenty fifth at six thirty and i just want to leave you with this one thought in my mind always speak up for a child thank you