KANSAS CITY, Mo. – On Tuesday, the Kansas City Chiefs announced that Jackson County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) has been named the next beneficiary of the Chiefs Charity Game and will start a three-year term in the fall of 2024.
Recognized as the top philanthropic game of its type in the NFL, the Chiefs Charity Game continues a long-standing commitment of supporting the local community that was started by team founder Lamar Hunt four decades ago.
"On behalf of my family, the Hunt Family Foundation and the Chiefs, I am thrilled to announce Jackson County CASA as the next beneficiary of the Chiefs Charity Game," Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said. "Jackson County CASA supports our community's youth and advocates for the most vulnerable among us. They work to ensure that children under the care of the court system are supported and cared for and help to place these children in a stable home. We look forward to working with this great organization as they utilize the resources of the Chiefs Charity Game to continue serving the children of Jackson County."
CASA volunteers are community volunteers who stand up and speak out to help children who have experienced abuse or neglect. Jackson County CASA recruits, trains, and supports these CASA volunteers to advocate for the best interest of children who are in the Jackson County Family Court system until they have a safe and permanent home.
Since 1983, Jackson County CASA has been providing guardian ad litem (legal advocacy) services for abused and neglected children and youth, birth to age 21, who enter the Jackson County Family Court system. Accredited by the National CASA Association (NCASA), and a member of the Missouri CASA Association, Jackson County CASA is one of over 950 programs nationwide and 23 statewide.
The first CASA program was established in 1977, and in 1982, after judges around the country began using CASA volunteers for their cases, the National Court Appointed Special Advocates Association was founded to direct the emerging movement. Since the first program was established in 1977, CASA volunteers have helped more than 2 million abused children across the nation.
"Jackson County CASA staff and volunteers are beyond excited to be the recipient of the Chiefs Charity Game beginning in 2024. The Chiefs and the Hunt Family have long supported Jackson County CASA's mission to provide advocacy for children in foster care due to experiencing abuse or neglect. With the funds and awareness raised through the Chiefs Charity Game, we'll be able to expand our capacity and provide highly trained volunteers to advocate for 100 percent of the children in foster care in Jackson County by the end of 2025," Jackson County CASA President and CEO Angie Blumel said. "We are so grateful to partner with the Chiefs to help every child in Jackson County have the opportunity to grow up in a safe and permanent home."
The 2024 season will mark the 40th edition of the annual Chiefs Charity Game. Since its inception in 1985, the Chiefs Charity Game has raised more than $15 million, with nearly $7 million being raised in the last dozen years alone. MOCSA (the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault), the game's most recent beneficiary (2021-23), just completed its third and final year as beneficiary and raised a three-year total of more than $1.4 million to support its work and mission through the game.
The Hunt Family Foundation, formerly the Chiefs Children's Fund, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established by the Hunt family in 1983 to support charitable agencies in the greater Kansas City community. Through philanthropy and community programs, the foundation provides vital assistance to more than 125 area charities each year and works to give back to a community that has given so much to the Kansas City Chiefs organization for six decades.
