Each year, the CASA Berks County Board of Directors presents the Champions for Children award to an outstanding adult, youth, organization, and animal who has distinguished themselves by demonstrating care, initiative, and commitment to improving the lives of children in Berks County.
Nominations are accepted from March 5, 2023 through April 8, 2023. Each nominee is carefully assessed to determine the degree to which he, she or it, fulfills each of the requirements according to the criteria established. The panel of reviewers who assess the nominations are Michael Toledo, President & CEO of The Hispanic Center; David Green, President, Sound Marketing Resources/Hold Time Advantage; English Bradley, Administrative Manager, BCTV, and Rosa E. Nieves, FirstEnergy.
The nominees and the awardees will be announced on Facebook in June 2023. Each awardee selects the date, time and location for their award presentation in July 2023.
Submit your nomination here: Nomination Form for Champions For Children Awards — CASA of Berks County (casaberks.org)
The criteria for the Champions for Children Award are as follows:
Nominations are accepted in four categories:
- Adult Champion,
- Organization Champion,
- Youth (aged 13-20) Champion, and
- Animal Champion (therapy animal, hero animal, etc.)
The nominee can be a professional in the field, such as a caseworker, teacher or nurse, or simply a Good Samaritan. The nominee must live or work in Berks County, and the child/children who were cared for and/or healed by the nominee must be a resident of Berks County. Animal nominees can reside outside Berks County but must have provided care to a child who resides in Berks County.
- We’re looking for passion and energy Tell us about your nominee’s passion and energy regarding the needs of children in Berks County
- Did the nominee get results? Did the nominee raise monies? Organize others to help children or put on an event? How did the nominee engage others to care about children in Berks County?
- We’re looking for initiative and hustle. Tell us how your nominee did not wait for others to act, rather took it on himself/herself to take action. Tell us how your nominee showed stamina and tenacity and pushed through some disappointments or roadblocks to get his/her task done.
- For the animal nominee, did the nominee: improve the mood or increase a child’s sense of well-being? cause a previously non-communicating child to communicate in some way? Significantly calm an aggressive or anxious child? Did a child who was fearful and lacked confidence become more confident, relaxed, and outgoing due to interacting with the nominee?
Submit your nomination here: Nomination Form for Champions For Children Awards — CASA of Berks County (casaberks.org)
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Berks County is a non-profit organization that recruits and trains volunteers as child advocates for the children in Berks County who reside in foster care. It was founded in 2015 under the initiative of Judge Ullman, who saw the need for additional “eyes and ears” on the care of Berks County foster children. Children in foster care who have a CASA volunteer, who is a caring consistent adult in their lives, are more likely to succeed in school, more likely to find a forever home, and half as likely to re-enter the foster care system. There are over 400 children in Berks County who reside in foster care at any one time. The organization’s 50 volunteers advocate for 110 children each year. More information at www.casaberks.org.
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