BERLIN — Historically, buccaneers might not have the most sterling reputation, but the Lower Shore Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program is looking for charitable-minded swashbucklers to volunteer for their 6th Annual Pirate Party.
Money raised through the party will go directly towards helping CASA advocate for children who are in foster care and the family court system.
Based at the Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services (WYFCS) in Berlin, CASA advocates for dozens of children every year. Funding for the group comes from a large annual grant that the local program has to match. The program does this through various fundraising events, the largest of which being the Pirate Party, which this year will be held May 16 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Sunset Grille in Ocean City.
“So we have to match our grant dollar-to-dollar to get our money. This is the only big event that CASA does to raise our money,” said Brigitte Southworth, director of CASA.
Last year’s total grant was for $65,000, with CASA matching another $65,000. About a third of that amount, $17,000, was generated solely from the 2013 Pirate Party. The party has grown significantly from when it started in 2008 and all of that money gets put to good use, according to Southworth.
“We definitely have more of an impact. I’ve been the director I think for five years now and our goal nationwide has been to serve every child involved in the court system,” she said. “Worcester County is smaller so we’ve almost reached that goal.”
CASA was able to advocate for 66 kids in the family court system last year, nearly every applicable child in the county. Nationally, about 234,000 children had CASA representatives support them, though there are another 400,000 kids who still need their own volunteer.
For each full-time CASA staffer, 30 volunteers can be supervised with those volunteers advocating for 75 often abused and neglected children with the goal of putting all of the kids in safe, permanent homes. CASA volunteers support kids throughout the child welfare and court process.
The CASA program in Worcester has been growing steadily since it began in 2002, but because the grant formula is based on last year’s numbers, less money will be received this year, making local fundraising even more important.
“Losing funding means we could lose a full-time supervisor. So our goal is to raise enough money so that we can keep our other supervisor full-time,” said Southworth.
This means there is a need for more event partners. As the name implies, volunteers for the Pirate Party dress up as buccaneers and raise money for the festival with a minimum benchmark of $500 each. They will be raising money from now until the party date in May. In recognition of their work, each pirate and a guest will be given a cruise aboard the Duckaneer pirate ship in Ocean City before docking at the Sunset Grille where they will be introduced to the rest of the crowd.
The community has been eager in the past to strap on their eye patches and peg legs and last year there were a total of 14 pirates. So far, eight have signed up with Southworth confident that last year’s number can be matched or exceeded. In addition to the pirates, CASA is also looking for event sponsors for the party. Sponsors are asked to raise at least $1,000 and will have their company name and logo placed on event materials and a banner at the party.
“We are in need of sponsors. We’re doing event sponsors like we have the past few years. But we’re looking for more, just more ideas to raise funds,” said Southworth.
To sign up as a pirate or sponsor, contact WYFCS at 410-641-4598.