NBC4’s ‘21st Century Solutions Campaign’ Awards Local Nonprofit
Los Angeles, CA, January 31, 2013 — CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Los Angeles (CASA/LA), a non-profit organization that improves the lives of foster children through trained volunteer advocates, has been graciously bestowed with a $50,000 grant from NBC4 Southern California’s ‘21st Century Solutions Campaign.’
The 21st Century Solutions program supports high-impact, innovative programs in the areas of Arts and Media; Civic Engagement; Jobs and Economic Empowerment; Community Development; Technology and Innovation; Education and Environment. The grant to CASA was in recognition of its Early Childhood Initiative which serves abused and neglected children aged 5 and under. These funds will help CASA serve even more young children in the coming years.
“We are honored to have been selected from the many deserving charitable organizations that were under consideration in Los Angeles,” said CASA/LA Executive Director Dilys Garcia. “We thank the NBC Universal Foundation and NBC4 for taking notice of our dedication and efforts to help at-risk foster children in our community, and for giving us the added resources to touch the lives of many more.”
“CASA/LA is the embodiment of a vital community-focused organization and a very deserving recipient of this grant,” said Terri Hernandez Rosales, vice president of community affairs for NBC4. “CASA/LA stands out because of the impact it has on the lives of the children it serves.”
NBC4 is among the 10 NBC owned and operated local stations that partnered with the NBCUniversal Foundation to launch the 21st Century Solutions campaign in June 2012, which provided a total of $1.2 million in grants to nonprofit organizations across the 10 communities served by the NBC owned stations.
ABOUT CASA/LA
Founded in 1978, CASA of Los Angeles is a community-supported 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that trains and supports volunteers from the community to serve as advocates for children in the highly-overburdened foster care system of Los Angeles County. A CASA volunteer is a committed, highly-trained everyday citizen volunteer assigned by a judge to a foster child in Los Angeles County’s Juvenile Dependency Court system who advocates for the best interests of the child. CASA volunteers bring the voice of the community into a child welfare system that is often overly-bureaucratic and legalistic. Studies have shown that children with CASAs receive more assistance and support than children without, are more likely to be adopted, and are less likely to reenter the child welfare system. For more information, please visit the CASA of Los Angeles website: www.casala.org.
ABOUT NBC4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
NBC4 Southern California is the West Coast flagship of the 10 NBC Owned Television Stations. It produces more than 35 hours each week of local news and information across its multiple platforms, including the main broadcast channel 4, and online at www.nbclosangeles.com. Serving the Los Angeles community since 1949, NBC4’s news operation has received nearly every industry award bestowed on local news, including numerous Los Angeles Emmy and Golden Mike Awards, as well as two national Edward R. Murrow Awards and a Peabody Award. The NBC Owned Television Stations, a division of NBCUniversal, also includes a group of out-of-home properties, a production company and COZI TV (www.cozitv.com).
Photo: Fritz Coleman, NBC4 weathercaster, Rebecca Rankin, CASA volunteer; Dilys Tosteson Garcia, CASA Executive Director; Bill Jones, CASA Development Consultant; Steve Carlston, NBC4 President and General Manager; Terri Hernandez Rosales, NBC$ VP of Community Affairs; Fred Weeden, NBC4 VP of Finance; and Todd Mokhtari, VP of News.
