(May 12, 2016) Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services is setting sail on Friday, May 20 to help raise money for its CASA program.
The eighth annual Pirate Party, held each year at Sunset Grille in West Ocean City, is the nonprofit’s largest funding source for the court-appointed special advocate program that serves children throughout the county.
CASA Director Brigitte Southworth said the event originally coincided with Child Abuse Awareness Month in April. But after several years of cold weather, it was switched to May.
“An outside party on the water in April was really, really cold,” she said. “But the idea was, we were trying to come up with a new event and were thinking about trying to ‘sink’ child abuse. Then we just thought about a pirate party, because no one did that around here.”
Southworth said CASA is largely driven by a cash-match grant, meaning money needs to be raised in order to unlock the grant funding.
Last year, more than 60 children in the county were served by the program.
“Basically, each child is assigned an advocate to assist them with their journey through the child welfare system,” she said. “They have their social workers, which are great, but CASA is their one steady person. They might change homes, change workers, change therapists, but we try to have one CASA volunteer assigned to them the whole time.”
During the event itself, additional money will be raised for CASA through auctions and raffles held on the grounds of the waterfront restaurant.
“We want people to have fun, first of all. But by coming out they’re also becoming a part of our advocacy group and helping us to keep supporting the kids here in Worcester County,” Southworth said.
The Pirate Party casts off at 5 p.m. Admission, which includes food and live entertainment, is a $20 donation. Drinks are available for an additional fee, and costumes are encouraged.
For more information, call 410-641-4598 or visit www.gowoyo.org.
The eighth annual Pirate Party, held each year at Sunset Grille in West Ocean City, is the nonprofit’s largest funding source for the court-appointed special advocate program that serves children throughout the county.
CASA Director Brigitte Southworth said the event originally coincided with Child Abuse Awareness Month in April. But after several years of cold weather, it was switched to May.
“An outside party on the water in April was really, really cold,” she said. “But the idea was, we were trying to come up with a new event and were thinking about trying to ‘sink’ child abuse. Then we just thought about a pirate party, because no one did that around here.”
Southworth said CASA is largely driven by a cash-match grant, meaning money needs to be raised in order to unlock the grant funding.
Last year, more than 60 children in the county were served by the program.
“Basically, each child is assigned an advocate to assist them with their journey through the child welfare system,” she said. “They have their social workers, which are great, but CASA is their one steady person. They might change homes, change workers, change therapists, but we try to have one CASA volunteer assigned to them the whole time.”
During the event itself, additional money will be raised for CASA through auctions and raffles held on the grounds of the waterfront restaurant.
“We want people to have fun, first of all. But by coming out they’re also becoming a part of our advocacy group and helping us to keep supporting the kids here in Worcester County,” Southworth said.
The Pirate Party casts off at 5 p.m. Admission, which includes food and live entertainment, is a $20 donation. Drinks are available for an additional fee, and costumes are encouraged.
For more information, call 410-641-4598 or visit www.gowoyo.org.