Seven-year-old *Kara squealed with delight when she saw her little sister Mia at the CASA OC annual holiday party. They were soon joined by another young sister, Carly. It had been a while since the siblings had seen one another since all three are living in separate placements. But the sisters were able to forget their difficult circumstances for a while as they crowded around Santa for a rare family photo this past weekend. 

Almost 500 attended this year’s holiday party where CASA youth and their advocates enjoyed visits with Santa, cookie decorating, crafts, backpacks filled with snacks, games, hot chocolate, and corn dogs from the Wienerschnitzel food truck. Children and young adults in attendance ranged in age from 4 to 21. Everyone left at the end of the day with an armful of gifts, including a wide selection of new books donated by customers from Barnes & Noble in Aliso Viejo, handmade blankets, holiday scarves, and pillowcases. A silent disco and a DJ rounded out the day’s activities.

The CASA holiday party is one of the most joyful events of the year and offers youth in foster care an opportunity to enjoy the holidays and reconnect with friends and siblings they may not regularly see due to different placements. It’s also a happy time for CASA staff and advocates who get to see the children they advocate for throughout the year, experience a day of play and happiness.

This event would not be possible without the generous support of Saddleback Church who host the party at their Anaheim campus and provide dozens of volunteers. Special thanks also go to CASA’s many community donors who make this annual event happen including:

• ADT Security Services in Orange & Anaheim

• Anaheim Public Library

• Burnham Benefits 

• Capital Group 

• Carrington Charitable Foundation

• Children's Village Preschool

• Compass

• Crean Lutheran High School Kids for CASA

• Deloitte  

• Democratic Women of South Orange County

• Deutsche Bank WOWS (Women on Wall Street)

• Edwards Lifesciences  

• Extraordinary Lives Foundation

• Fashion Island

• Gilardi Group

• Ginger Nelson

• Hyundai Capital

• Kappa Alpha Theta South OC Alumna Chapter  

• NCL Monarch Chapter

• Newport Beach Elementary Learning Center

• PADI  

• Rogue Creative Development  

• Santa Margarita Catholic High School CASA Teens

• Small Business Growth Alliance  

• soul&beautyMEDx

• St. Mary’s

• Stuart Kane LLP

• Wienerschnitzel  

• Women in God’s Spirit (WINGS)

• Several anonymous donors 

*Names changed to protect privacy