[Costume 5K starting line as the race begins]
[Runners in costume moving away from camera]
Loretta Severin (interview): “This is yes, our first ever Totally Awesome Costume Fun Run. And we, a couple years before the pandemic, had a run for a few years that was superhero themed and one of our board members thought about bringing the run back kind of as a community engagement opportunity and a way to just get the name of CASA out in the community in a way that’s fun and family-friendly.”
[Runners dressed in business suits]
[Runners dressed in Bob’s Burgers costumes]
[Runner with Superman suit on]
Loretta Severin (interview): “Today we’re really just trying to bring awareness of CASA so that the community understands the work that CASA does in the community. Children who are in the foster care system really benefit from having a long-standing relationship with a trusted adult who is there and there only to pay attention to what their emotional needs are and also to help them be successful as they navigate a really challenging system.”
[Two runners with banana hats]
[Runners before the start of the race]
Molly Morgison (interview): “CASA is Court Appointed Special Advocates, so we have volunteers who sign up for a case, a specific kid in the foster care program, and they stay with that kid throughout the entirety of their time in the foster care program.”
[Runner with a wing cape crossing the finish line]
Molly Morgison (interview): “If a child changes placements, they still have that CASA that is there to, you know, hang out with them, take them to go do things, see them a couple times a month. And then that CASA also, they also produce a court report, you know, to kind of, they go to a hearing, they advocate for the kid.”
[Runners in Bob’s Burgers costumes finishing the race]
Molly Morgison (interview): “We currently have 65 kids on our waiting list, like waiting for a CASA. And so, fundraisers like this help us to meet those needs and have more CASAs to support those kids on the waiting list.”
[Dog in bee costume during the run]
[Runner holding a CASA Totally Awesome 5K medal after the race]
Loretta Severin (interview): “My day job, my professional life, I work in systems that support children and families. And we know that there’s only so much that our kind of systems can do and that there is a need for our communities to step in and support children and families as well. And so, for me, it’s just a really nice compliment to see how caring volunteers and caring adults and communities can step in and also help contribute to what is a really challenging circumstance both in the lives of a child, but also systematically in our society.”
[Family in various bee costumes posing at the finish line]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.