With its 299-foot race now in the past, Tri-Lakes CASA is gearing up for its next two big events -- the Don Baker Memorial Golf Tournament and Hot Springs Jeep Fest.
The organization, which provides Court-Appointed Special Advocates for children in foster care in Garland, Hot Spring and Grant counties, kicked off the St. Patrick's Day weekend with the Third Ever Zero-K World's Shortest St. Patrick's footrace.
"I think it went great," Tiffany Barnes, Tri-Lakes CASA program director, said. "We had lots of people out. They had lots of great costumes. Down at the finish line, we had two little boys that were duking it out pretty much for the last person, for the slowest, and so it was great to see kids involved and all the great costumes there were."
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As an organization that helps children, "it's always great to see children there," Barnes said.
"We do try to make it as child-friendly as we can," she said. "In this kind of situation, St. Patrick's Day, especially the parade, which is what Hot Springs is kind of known for, is very adult-centered, but I was glad to see several children out there this year. We had several children last year also, but any event that we try to do, we try to make child-centered, since we train advocates for children in foster care. We are very about the children."
With around 480 participants from 15 different states, Barnes said the event is helping to bring attention to what the organization does nationwide.
"It's always great to spread the word," she said. "CASA, in itself, is a nationwide organization. So we're not just bringing awareness for Tri-Lakes CASA but for CASA in other states. So anytime we can do that, it's a win for us."
The Don Baker Memorial Golf Tournament is the organization's next fundraising event, set for April 20 at Malvern Country Club.
"Don Baker was a man that was very involved in his Malvern community," Barnes said. "And this is going to be the fifth annual Don Baker Memorial Golf Tournament. ... It's been a great tournament. Our Malvern community has been great."
Last year, the tournament drew a record 124 participants, and Barnes is hoping to exceed that this year.
"That's a pretty large tournament, so we're hoping that we can exceed that this year," she said. "We can't get too many. That's the thing with a golf tournament. You can't get too many people on the course because then it kind of gets overcrowded and it takes a really long time for the game to end. ... So hopefully we can get a few more, but then we'll be at our max, which I'm perfectly fine with."
The second annual Jeep Fest is set for May 3-5 at the Garland County Fairgrounds, Barnes said.
"Last year it was a two-day event," she said. "This year it's technically a three-day event. Two of those days will be at the fairgrounds. ... On May 3, we will be working with Red River Dodge Jeep Chrysler in Malvern. They're our main sponsor for that event, our presenting sponsor, and we will have a meet and greet on May 3 there starting at 7 p.m."
The meet and greet will feature the John Calvin Brewer Band playing live music while "the Jeepers will get to meet each other and look at each other's Jeeps," Barnes said.
"Saturday is when we'll be at the fairgrounds, and registration starts at 8 a.m.," she said, noting participants can register online at hotspringsjeepfest.com, or register the day of the event at the Garland County Fairgrounds.
"We will be having a Jeep show, a Jeep parade, a poker run and then we'll have trail rides every 30 minutes to every hour. We have a list online of which ones you can sign up for. We are limiting how many people are in each one of those trail rides, just so we don't have such a long ride and so people don't get lost," she said.
All the proceeds from the three events go toward the organization, which helps children in foster care, she said.
"The textbook version of what we would do is we provide a voice for children in foster care, but honestly, it's much more than that," she said. "We provide friendship for that child in foster care. We provide consistency. (Department of Human Services) is a very hard job to be a caseworker. They deal with a lot, and we as advocates try to help with that caseload as much as we can."
Advocates undergo 30 hours of training before they are sworn in by the court to help children and families.
"That does sound like a lot, but the type of situations that we're working with, it is important that we have well-trained advocates," Barnes said, noting there are two types of training available for prospective advocates. "We space it out, and we do try to work with the advocates' schedule as much as possible."
Once they are sworn in, advocates are assigned one to three cases, and work with children from birth to beyond 18, Barnes said.
"A lot of people do not know -- before I worked here I did not realize -- that with DHS, there is an opportunity for a child to get into what they would call aftercare after they turn 18," she said.
"They have that choice -- because they are 18 -- to stay in care, and unfortunately many do not. And that is one thing an advocate does is help to inform that child that is 17, almost 18 years old, what can be provided for them if they were to stay in aftercare," Barnes said.
"They still need guidance even at 18, and many of them keep relationships even after the case is closed or the child decided not to stay in aftercare."
Approximately 45 of the 300-350 children in foster care in Garland County are being helped through CASA, but the organization is constantly striving to help 100% of those children, she said, noting that is why they are always recruiting new advocates.
"If you're interested in becoming an advocate, you can go onto our website, www.trilakescasa.org, and we have an application on our website that you can fill out, and it goes straight to us," she said. "One of us will reach out and contact you about setting up an interview. If you have questions about becoming an advocate before filling an application out, you are more than welcome to call our office. That phone number is 501-321-9269."
Henry Ivy (230) slowly makes his way along the course for the Third Ever Zero-K World's Shortest St. Patrick's footrace as workers start removing barricades. Ivy took approximately an hour to traverse the 299-foot course to claim the title as slowest runner. (The Sentinel-Record/James Leigh)