Dan Cummins gives $100,000 to CASA for third year
Donation announced at Bourbon County CASA Angel Tree event will fund advocacy for abused and neglected children in 2024
The CASA program serving Bourbon County has once again received a $100,000 donation from the Dan Cummins Auto Group, funding advocacy for abused and neglected children in 2024.
Josh Cummins presented the $100,000, raised by taking a portion of each car sale made at Dan Cummins dealerships this year, to CASA of Lexington Executive Director Melynda Jamison at the organization’s annual Bourbon County CASA Angel Tree event Nov. 9.
"We have something to present to CASA,” Cummins said as he pulled an oversized novelty check from behind the CASA Angel Tree. “It's $100,000 we have raised this year to help you with your efforts and to help the volunteers going forward once again. So we would like to present you with this ‘small’ check."
“I’m not sure the folks here in Paris understand the definition of ‘small,’” Jamison joked. “But we will happily take it because this means 100 children get a CASA volunteer for an entire year.”
Court-appointed special advocate (CASA) volunteers are trained community members who are matched with abused and neglected children in the family court system. Each CASA volunteer visits with the child on their case monthly, talks to adults in the child’s life, reviews records and writes reports for the judge.
Children with a CASA volunteer have more hope for the future, get more services to help them thrive, do better in school and are far less likely to re-enter the foster system after their cases close.
The CASA Angel Tree program is the community’s opportunity to brighten the holidays for CASA children by purchasing them gifts from their wish lists. This year, there were 38 children on the CASA Angel Tree in need of someone to purchase their gifts for the holidays. Every name on the tree was picked within minutes.
Bourbon County Judge-Executive Mike Williams spoke at the event, thanking the Cummins family and employees for their dedication to the CASA mission. Williams said he is proud that the Bourbon County Fiscal Court not only provided some of the funding required to bring CASA services, but has increased its funding for the CASA program over the years.
“I do understand how important CASA is, and especially understand how important it is for Bourbon County,” he said.
Josh Cummins said supporting CASA is a great way to create positive change in the world at the local level, rather than focusing on problems “halfway across the world.”
“You can fix your neighbor. You can help your community,” he said. “(CASA is) something that will affect the rest of our lives, our community’s growth, the lives and relationships of our children.”
Last year in Bourbon County, there were 53 children who suffered documented abuse or neglect. Given that the average case lasts two years or longer, there are likely more than 100 children with open family court cases in Bourbon County right now. CASA of Lexington served 56 of those children in 2022.
“We want to get to the point where we’re able to serve every child who needs a CASA volunteer,” Jamison said. “In order to do that, we need more volunteers. So we’re continuing to recruit volunteers in Bourbon County.”
The next regional training class for people who want to serve in Bourbon County will begin Jan. 9, with classes on evenings and weekends at the CASA of Lexington Fayette County office, 3245 Loch Ness Dr. in Lexington.
You can learn more about becoming a CASA volunteer and the training class at www.casaoflexington.org/training.
Participate in CASA Angel Tree
All names from the 2023 Bourbon County CASA Angel Tree have been selected, but you can provide additional gifts by purchasing from the CASA Angel Tree Wish List, available at https://bit.ly/casaangeltree2023. When you place your order, ensure you choose the “gift registry address” for shipping rather than your own address. The gifts you purchase will be used to ensure every child receives a good number of gifts and that siblings receive comparable gifts.