CASA receives Target Stores grant

CASA was named Oct. 26 a recipient of a $5,900 grant from Target Stores. The grant will be used to fund P.A.V.E., or Partnership Assuring Volunteer Excellence, which is a program designed to enhance volunteer advocate training and recruitment. The money will provide new equipment to CASA to enhance its Web-based training and access.

“We are honored to be partnering with Target, a corporation known nationally for its local support to communities,” said Judy Doverspike, CASA of Southwest Missouri executive director, in a news release. “This grant will offer us the opportunity to reach more people, and ultimately serve more children in our program.”

The grant is part of Target Stores’ work to give back to communities where it does business.

This year, Minneapolis-based Target Stores and its parent company, Target Corp., will give more than $2 million in grants and gifts per week.

CASA was founded in 1977 as a pilot program in Seattle to help protect abused or neglected children and place them in healthy foster care or adopted home environments.

Its mission is to serve as the eyes and ears of the juvenile court judges, trying to help prevent abuse and neglect of children wherever possible.

The Southwest Missouri chapter of CASA was founded in 1988 and has about 125 volunteers.