Mailing the sponsor invitations were Dana Mersiovsky, Michelle Cano and Tarina Sheridan.
Child Advocates of Fort Bend is marking 30 years of serving child victims of abuse and their families with a 30th Birthday Gala Celebration on Saturday, May 8th. This fun, adult event, will take place at the Sugar Land Marriott Town Square featuring a live band, live and silent auctions, a raffle and wine and gift card pulls. Michele Fisher will serve as emcee for the evening, and Johnny Bravo will join her as auctioneer.
“We’re planning a great evening and have a lot of fun things in store for our guests,” stated Development Director Lisa Moore. “What’s a birthday party celebration without a party band? Soul Relief, a six-piece party band will play throughout the evening. In addition, dancers from Cookie Joe’s Dancin’ School will delight guests with a live performance. A few highlights of our auction include a private home that sleeps 17 on a private beach, a fishing excursion, a trip to LA with tickets to a live taping of Ellen and more,” she added.
“We are balancing a party atmosphere with safety considerations and will be following CDC guidelines with safety protocols in place. We will have tables for eight instead of 10, and we are adding extra space in our silent auction and throughout the ballroom to help with social distancing. Guests will be required to wear masks except when eating and drinking,” continued Moore.
For those who are unable to attend in person, we offer online bidding for the silent auction and a ghost bidder for bidding on live auction items.
Support of this event will be offered to help fund the agency’s services which has never been more critical. “The number of children and families needing our services continues to increase,” stated Child Advocates of Fort Bend CEO Ruthanne Mefford. “Last year, Child Advocates of Fort Bend served 22% more children and families in 2020 than in 2019, which continues the upward trend we have been experiencing every year. Over the past eight years, we are up 60% in demand for our services.
“Initially reports of abuse were down because the pandemic meant that fewer eyes were checking on children’s welfare when schools went remote,” said Mefford. Yet, abuse was still happening and in fact accelerating during the pandemic due to isolation, stressors, increased use of alcohol, depression and anxiety surrounding the virus and loss of loved ones. “We are up 42% just in the first three months of 2021 compared to last year at this time,” added Mefford. “Our doors have remained open throughout the pandemic with our Children’s Advocacy Center providing forensic interviews, therapy, medical referrals and clinical case management to children and families. Our Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) staff and Advocates connected with the children in foster care virtually and attended court by Zoom. With the increases in reports of abuse, our staff and volunteers are challenged to make sure that children and families are seen and that their needs are being met. We have also increased our community outreach and education about abuse so that the public is aware of what might be happening to our children and can do their part to keep children safe,” she added.
Sponsorship and underwriting opportunities ranging from $2,000 to $15,000 are available. Individual seats are $150. This is your chance to join Confetti Presenting Sponsor Exchange Club of Sugar Land in making a difference for children. To attend, become a sponsor, donate an auction item or for more information, go to https://www.cafb.org/events/gala/ or contact Tarina Sheridan at TSheridan@cafb.org.