The Kansas City Chiefs return to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and while the advent of another football season is always exciting, this particular game is about so much more than what takes place on the field.
It's the annual Chiefs Charity Game – widely regarded as the top philanthropic event of its type in the NFL – and as the 40th edition of the game takes place on Saturday, the matchup will directly benefit the life-changing work being done by Jackson County CASA.
Established in 1983, Jackson County CASA – which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates – provides legal advocacy services for abused and neglected children who find themselves in the Jackson County Family Court system.
"We recruit and train community volunteers who want to make a difference in a child's life," said Angie Blumel, the organization's President and CEO. "The children we serve are kids from birth to 21 years old who have experienced abuse or neglect, and now they're in foster care. We train our CASA advocates to serve as their champion and their voice in family court so that they have a say in what happens next for them."
It's a critical mission, as approximately 2,000 children in Jackson County experience Family Court on an annual basis. It's an unfortunate reality, but Jackson County CASA exists to make these challenging situations just a little bit easier.
"Foster care is a chaotic system, and these kids are experiencing a lot of change," Blumel said. "The CASA volunteer really is their one constant. It's the caring and consistent adult who walks through the process with them. Our volunteers are really amazing people who are in the corner of the kids that we serve."
Jackson County CASA will kick off a three-year term as the game's beneficiary following a stretch in which the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA), the game's beneficiary from 2021 through 2023, raised $1.4 million over its three-year tenure.
In total, the Chiefs Charity Game has raised more than $15 million over its 39 years of existence, with nearly $7 million being raised over the last 12 years alone. The financial benefit is significant, to say the least, but the game's impact goes far beyond the dollars and cents.
"Yes, we'll raise funds, but we also want to raise awareness about our mission and recruit members of Chiefs Kingdom to be Court Appointed Special Advocates," Blumel said. "We need more volunteers than ever. We believe in our services and what our volunteers provide, and we want every kid in foster care to have a CASA volunteer."
It's all to say that the event will assist Jackson County CASA in making a tangible difference in our community, and at the same time, the game itself will provide a collective opportunity for everyone involved to have an experience that they won't soon forget.
"We have over 400 people attending, and for many, it will be their first Chiefs game," Blumel said. "What a cool thing to be able to give a kid a day like that, especially when they're experiencing trauma. They can just be a kid for a day, and what a gift that is."
To learn more about Jackson County CASA or to get involved, click here.
