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The Iowa Child Advocacy Board and our CASA and Foster Care Review Board programs wish to thank the following funders for their kind and generous support of our programming throughout 2021: |
Bertha Stebens Award
$3,750 for North Central Iowa CASA Program Support
Community Foundation of Johnson County
$5,000 for Johnson County CASA Program Support
Friends of Iowa CASA & ICFCRB
$76,348 for Statewide CASA & FCRB Program Support
Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
$3,036 for Linn County FCRB Technology & Equipment
Hubbell-Waterman Foundation
$5,000 for Scott County CASA Program Support
The Joe and Patty Lee Foundation
$5,000 for Linn and Johnson County CASA Program Support
Jerome S and Grace H Murray Foundation
$77,305 for Polk County CASA Program Support
National CASA/GAL Association:
$50,000 for Des Moines CASA Growth Project
$25,000 for Dubuque County CASA Program Support (Year 2)
Polk County Board of Supervisors
$5,000 to help launch the Polk County Foster Care Review Board
(new facilitator training and facilitation costs for one year)
Theisen’s More for Your Community:
Coralville Store - $1,500 for CASA Program Support
Cedar Rapids NE Store - $2,500 for CASA Program Support
Davenport Store - $2,500 for CASA Program Support
Dubuque Store - $2,000 for CASA Program Support
United Way:
UW Wapello County - $25,000 – CASA & FCRB Program Support
United Way of North Central Iowa – $20,000 – North Central Iowa CASA Program Support
United Way of Dubuque Area Tri-States - $34,997 – Dubuque County CASA Program Support
Cedar Valley United Way - $19,550 – CASA Program Support
United Way of the Midlands - $15,000 – CASA Program Support
 Welcome to Our New Volunteers!
| Todd Greene, CASA, Winnebago County |
Ashley Regan, CASA, Dubuque County |
Polk County CASA Advocates, Board Members and Coaches,
Polk County CASA received a grant from National CASA to recruit additional volunteers to serve an increased number of children. One of the ways we hope to increase awareness is to display yard signs. We have two different versions (w/ stands): one that lets people know you are a CASA volunteer and the other is to promote the CASA Program. If you would like one or both for your yard, or a few yards in your neighborhood, please contact Coordinator Kevin Schnoebelen at 515-669-9153. If you have any business connections or friends who may be interested in helping with this outreach please let us know. As always – we are grateful for your help!
For FCRB Members & CASA Advocates: Importance of Volunteering
Many people have studied the positive outcomes for individuals who volunteer. Physical benefits might include lower blood pressure or a longer lifespan. Mental health benefits include the possibility of counteracting the effects of stress, depression and anxiety, combats feelings of loneliness and increase ‘happiness hormones” of serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin.
As Berkley’s Greater Good Magazine outlines in their article, How Volunteering Can Help Your Mental Health
“New research suggests that volunteers aren’t just helping the communities they serve. People who volunteer actually experience a boost in their mental health—good news at a time when more than a third of Americans are experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression.
In a study published this year in the Journal of Happiness Studies, researchers examined data from nearly 70,000 research participants in the United Kingdom, who received surveys about their volunteering habits and their mental health, including their distress and functioning in everyday life, every two years from 1996 to 2014.
Compared to people who didn’t volunteer, people who had volunteered in the past year were more satisfied with their lives and rated their overall health as better. Additionally, the researchers found that people who volunteered more frequently experienced greater benefits: Those who volunteered at least once a month reported better mental health than participants who volunteered infrequently or not at all.
But does volunteering make people happy, or are happy people simply more likely to volunteer? The researchers found the same results even when they accounted for participants’ initial levels of well-being before they started volunteering. In other words, people who started to volunteer became happier over time.”
Additional benefits beyond the documented reasons of being good for your body and mind include volunteering connects you to others, can advance your career, or can bring fun and fulfillment to your life. Whatever your reasons are for volunteering at the Iowa Child Advocacy Board or the positive outcomes you receive, know that we value your contributions and thank you for staying part of our ICAB family in 2021!
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