CASA of the River Region partners with a variety of companies, organizations, and groups to ensure its mission of serving the most vulnerable children is achieved.
Oxmoor Auto Group is committed to spotlighting nonprofit organizations and the communities they serve. A partnership with CASA and Oxmoor Auto Group (OAG) became a natural relationship. OAG is locally owned and employs over 500 people in Kentuckiana. According to Kenny Alward from OAG, “giving back to those who need it most in the same community our team calls home, is a tenet of our mission to serve locally.”
Kenny continued, “The second "A" in CASA's name stands for "Advocate" and that says everything. There is nothing more important that we can do than advocate for a child that is in a very bad situation that they did not choose. As another charity partner of ours, Blessings in a Backpack, says, the child didn't get to choose their parents, so they didn't choose hunger. The proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child", is on point. There are many important charities that meet the child where their need is and CASA fits into a critical part of some children's journeys.”
During the pandemic, CASA, like so many other nonprofits, was working towards creating virtual events. The first virtual event CASA implemented was the Embrace a Child Breakfast in April 2021. Normally, the event would fill a room with 300 people who would hear from a Family Court Judge, CASA’s President/CEO, a CASA volunteer, and a former CASA child.
The OAG Community Outreach Team helped CASA pivot into virtual events by providing recording and video production. According to Kenny, “Hearing the stories from the judges, volunteers, and former CASA kids, spoke volumes of the value that a CASA advocate provides.”
OAG annually supports over 40 local charities, providing financial assistance, volunteer hours and increasing their exposure by sharing their message through their vast social media network. “Louisville has 3,000 local charities, so when we produce and deliver a charity partner's mission to a new audience this increases their ability to sustain long term growth,” said Gabrielle Robertson, Marketing & Social Spokesperson for OAG.
OAG shares their charity partnerships with their customers for two reasons. Gabrielle says, “The first being that we want to increase the charity’s exposure so others that have like-minded views may want to get involved with the charity. Secondly, we share these stories, because it’s important to our customers based upon numerous factors, not just limited to positive feedback.”
CASA is beyond grateful for the partnership with OAG and the ability to share the impact CASA volunteers have on Family Court and the vulnerable children in our community. We look forward to continuing the partnership and giving a voice to the stories of so many.
To learn more about volunteer advocacy, join our virtual information session every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month. Info/RSVP: www.casarr.org/RSVP
You can also learn more by watching the videos produced by OAG here:
Ryans Story: EAC 2022-Ryan-Vonna
Tori’s Story: 2021 Embrace a Child Breakfast - CASA Graduate Tori
Tori Interviews Her CASA: 2021 Embrace a Child Breakfast - Mimi & Tori
Judge Interviews: 2021 Embrace a Child Breakfast - Q&A Panel with Judges