Dallas CASA will honor the Dallas Mavericks with the Jan and Judge Barefoot Sanders Champion of Children Award at its annual Champion of Children Award Dinner Friday, October 18. The event raises funds to benefit the child victims of neglect and abuse served by Dallas CASA.
Since the Mavericks’ first season in 1980-81, players have been involved in their local community, giving back to people in need and modeling for their fellow citizens what involvement could look like.
In addition to vital grants from the Mavs Foundation to agencies that support vulnerable populations and the construction of safe learn and play spaces across North Texas, the team has set the standard for leading the charge on change through its Mavs Take ACTION! campaign.
(Courtesy photo)
The award is named for Judge Harold Barefoot Sanders, a revered United States District Court judge for the Northern District of Texas, past award recipient and a steadfast supporter of Dallas CASA and his wife Jan Sanders, a former Dallas CASA volunteer child advocate.
The event will take place on Friday, Oct. 18 at The Fairmont Dallas (1717 North Akard Street). Event Co-Chairs are Janice and Richard Davis and Nicki and Paul Stafford. Janice Davis and Nicki Stafford are Dallas CASA board members, and Janice Davis and both Staffords are sworn child advocates.
Honorary Chair is Bob Mong, a Dallas luminary who recently retired after nine years as the president of the University of North Texas at Dallas. Mong serves on the Dallas Mavericks Advisory Council. He was previously a journalist, primarily at The Dallas Morning News where he was managing editor and editor-in-chief.
(Andy Williams / Courtesy)
Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) seeks to protect children, restore childhood and help child victims of abuse or neglect achieve their full potential. The agency’s trained and supervised community volunteers are assigned by judges to advocate for the best interests of children who have experienced abuse or neglect and are living in the protective care of the state.
For many children in foster care, their Dallas CASA volunteer is the only consistent, caring adult in their lives during a frightening, uncertain time. Dallas CASA envisions a day when all children experience safe childhoods and grow into resourceful, healthy adults.
Now in its 44th year, Dallas CASA serves more children than any of the more than 900 CASA programs nationwide. In 2023, 1,088 Dallas CASA volunteers were assigned to advocate for 2,151 children in protective care. For the past five years, the agency has been able to provide an advocate for every Dallas child in need, but each year more advocates are needed. To learn more, visit dallascasa.org.
