Fayette County CASA volunteers earn Presidential Volunteer Service Awards
CASA volunteers who won 2023 Presidential Volunteer Service Awards pose for a photo with Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, members of the Urban County Council, CASA staff and board members, and Fayette County’s four family court judges.
Forty-four of Fayette County’s most dedicated volunteers were honored for earning Presidential Volunteer Service Awards during the Urban County Council’s meeting Thursday.
The volunteers give their time to help abused and neglected children through CASA of Lexington. In 2023, the 44 award recipients combined to volunteer for more than 10,000 hours.
“Kentucky is among the worst states in the nation when it comes to the number of new abuse and neglect cases each year. Our family court system is filled with cases of children who deserve a stable, loving home, but are instead navigating a world filled with chaos and uncertainty,” Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said during the presentation of the awards. “In 2023 alone, more than 440 Fayette County children had someone looking out for their best interests: They had a CASA volunteer.”
A record three CASA volunteers earned Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Awards, the highest tier awarded through the program, for volunteering more than 500 hours each in 2023: Debra Gabbard, Brittney Thomas and Jan Colbert.
CASA volunteers Jan Colbert, Debra Gabbard and Brittney Thomas earned Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Awards for volunteering more than 500 hours each in 2023. Between the three, they gave more than 2,100 hours last year to help abused and neglected children.
Eleven CASA volunteers earned Silver PVSAs for volunteering more than 250 hours: Jane Bennington, Julie Creech, April Jilbert, Gretchen LaGodna, Nick Luddy, Elise Melrood, Cynthia Phillips, Barbara Phipps, Susan Schwalbach, Fawn Torkelson and Herb Toews III.
And 30 CASA volunteers earned Bronze PVSAs for volunteering more than 100 hours: Alex Allouch, Stuart Bennett, Megan Campbell, Barbie Carter, Jenn Cathey, Jane Crickard, Ava Crow, Kathy Edwards, Meredith Feiertag, Anne Flynn, Katy Grubb, Michael Hale, Jill Johnson, Anna Jones, Rita Klein, Kim Lyon, Tracey Meyers, Patty Overing, Heather Padilla, Kayla Pelphrey, Nancy Potter, Terri Potter, Pat Riddell, Rene Saner, Maquel Sarantakos, Sally Schneider, Jessica Schroeder, Dave Sevigny, Susan Stewart and Mary Woodward.
CASA volunteers are matched with children in the family court system who need an advocate. Each volunteer visits their child monthly, talks to adults in their child's life and reviews medical and educational records. While volunteers can go above and beyond like the PVSA recipients, on average a CASA volunteer contributes between 5 and 10 hours a month.
CASA volunteers' reports help family court judges make more informed decisions and can lead to improved outcomes for children, including more services they need to thrive and shorter times in the system.
In Fayette County in 2023, 894 children suffered documented abuse or neglect and there were likely more than 1,700 children with open family court cases. Fayette County currently has enough CASA volunteers to serve about 25% of these children.
Anyone interested in becoming a CASA volunteer can learn more, fill out an application and view schedules for training classes at www.casaoflexington.org.
