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Community Service The Sacramento ASWA Chapter is getting down and dirty! On June 26 at 9:00 a.m. we will be meeting on top of the levy at the Campus Commons Gold Course (near the club house) to help pick up trash along a one-mile stretch of the American River Parkway. We hope you can join us! We will be partnering with the AGA. They will provide trash bags and sterile gloves. If you have a trash picker-upper (grabber), please bring it. Light hiking shoes are the suggested footgear. The specific section that we will be cleaning is the 7th mile north, across the American River from Sac State. It starts about 1/8th mile south of the golf course clubhouse. AGA’s sign is on the bike trail. Please contact Rebecca (rebeccagraulich@aol.com) if you can participate. This is a terrific way to socialize, help the environment and get some exercise, all for about two hours of your time. Annual December Charity Meeting The Sacramento Chapter of ASWA’s December meeting is our annual charity event and for 2008 the Chapter invited CASA El Dorado to share its program and mission with our members. CASA was started in 1976 by a judge in Seattle who saw that the needs of children were being represented by social workers that did not know their client child very well, and by lawyers who knew even less. He wanted someone more familiar with the child’s situation, personality, and background. In 1992, Judge Patrick J. Riley introduced and supported a CASA program in El Dorado County and the program has been very successful, both for the judges and for the children involved. CASA El Dorado serves children caught in the court system by providing long-term volunteers. These adults connect with the child as a friend and act as a spokesman in court for the child’s best interests. CASA is an acronym that stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, and that’s what these volunteers do – they advocate for the child. The service is needed because many of these children live in multiple foster care homes over the course of years, or they have parents who are ill or addicted. A healthy, caring adult is assigned to get to know the child and to be one more representative for the child to the judge when decisions are made. And the children have a steady adult friend to help them, both in court, and in life. We supported CASA El Dorado by bringing gift cards for the children, so they could have the experience of buying something for themselves. If you would like to assist CASA El Dorado with this ongoing need, gift card ideas from CASA El Dorado’s wish list include: Movies, Sacramento or Folsom Zoo, Funderland, Fairytale Town, River Cats or other children's events Kid-friendly restaurants, e.g., McDonald's, Taco Bell, Baskin Robbins or other ice cream parlors Office supply stores Grocery stores - for children's parties, e.g., CASA Kid's Holiday Party Wal-Mart, Target and Old Navy For more information about CASA El Dorado and to review its case studies, list of events, volunteer opportunities, and annual reports, please visit its website at www.casaeldorado.org. Thank you for supporting CASA El Dorado! Local Charities         CASA El Dorado         Sacramento Crisis Nurseries         WEAVE         Sacramento Valley Teen Challenge         The American Red Cross         Volunteers of America         The Sacramento Food Bank         Loaves and Fishes         Wind Youth Center         Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation / Race for the Cure         The Salvation Army Sacramento River Clean-Up Make a difference in the community, enjoy some sunshine, and make new friends. The Sacramento Chapter of the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) hosted a clean up day along the Sacramento River and our ASWA chapter joined them to help out with this worthwhile project on Saturday June 21, 2008.