Stories to Inspire: Bergen County CASA for Children Holds Casino Night- Bet on the Children, Mark and Debbie Levy to be Honored

(Press Release): Hackensack, NJ – Have some fun and benefit children in foster care at the same time! CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for Children of Bergen County is holding its 12th annual event, Casino Night: Bet on the Children on April 27,  2017 from 6:30pm to 10:30pm at Seasons, 644 Pascack Road in Washington Township, NJ.  

Mark and Debbie Levy are
the 2017 Angel Award Recipients
from Bergen County CASA

Bergen CASA is a non-profit that trains and then provides volunteer advocates for children in foster care in Bergen County, the children in our own county that have been so abused and neglected that they have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care. The event takes place in April because it is Child Abuse and Prevention Month. Tickets are $135. Included in the ticket price is a wide array of hors d’oeuvres, food stations and desserts, open bar and $100 in casino play money. There will also be a basket raffle, silent auction with mobile bidding and other games in addition to exciting casino-style play throughout the evening. To purchase a ticket, please visit the website, www.BergenCASA.org or call 201-336-7520 for tickets and information. Donations for the evening's auctions and raffles are always welcome.  If interested in donating an item or service, please contact Event Chair Leslie Konikow at skikonikow@aol.com.

"At this year’s event, CASA for Children of Bergen County is presenting our Angel Award to Mark and Debbie Levy of Washington Township, who have both dedicated years of service to Bergen CASA. " states Suzanne Ordas Curry, President. "Mark was on our Board and on our Executive Committee for many years and Debbie, his wife has helped in extraordinary ways as a member of our Fundraising Committee. Together they have made a real difference to the organization and the children we serve, " she adds.  The award will be presented to them that evening. Debbie and Mark Levy state, “CASA for Children of Bergen County is extremely important to us.  We wholeheartedly believe in and support the work that this organization does on behalf of the most vulnerable among us…the children.”  

CASA advocates are volunteers that advocate on behalf of the county’s abused and neglected children and work to ensure that needed services and assistance are made available to these children while helping them move toward safe and permanent homes as quickly as possible.  CASA volunteers are assigned to only one case; either one child or one family of children at a time, which allows them to devote an enormous amount of time to that child so that he/she does not slip through the cracks of the judicial and child welfare systems.  In short, the CASA volunteer is an open-minded and unbiased voice for the child in the court process and a consistent and caring person in the child’s life.  

Currently, there are more children in foster care in Bergen County than CASA has the volunteers or financial resources, to handle, and Bergen County CASA's goal is to have an advocate for every child. Advocates are always needed and additional funds help us grow the program. If interested in becoming a CASA volunteer, please visit the website and sign up for an information session.

Sponsors to date for Casino Night include Moretrench, WB Wood, Timepiece Collection, NJ L&C, Lorin Konner Sherman Memorial Fund and the Curry Family.

For more information on CASA, email info@bergencasa.org or visit www.bergencasa.org to purchase a ticket. If you would like to make a monetary donation, would like to know how to become a CASA volunteer or would like to know other ways to help, please call Lori Morris, Interim Executive Director at 201-336-7520 or visit our website.