Voices for Children is presenting a special fundraiser to benefit children in the Guardian ad Litem program.
The event, which promises to create magical memories, is a Father/Grandfather Daughter Dance. It will feature a fun night of dancing, a hot fudge sundae buffet, surprise entertainment and a forever corsage for daughters ages 3-18.
The event will be held Saturday, July 6 at the Wildwood Community Center, located at 6500 Powell Road, from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $47 per couple, with an additional $14 per daughter. Digital copies of professionally taken photos will be available for $14.
All profits from the dance will benefit the 2,100 children served by the 5th Circuit Guardian ad Litem program, which encompasses Lake, Sumter, Hernando, Citrus and Marion counties. Those children, ranging in age from infant to 18, have been removed from their homes for a variety of reasons, including alleged abuse, neglect or abandonment.
Guardian ad Litem’s mission is to promote and protect the best interests of those children involved in dependency court proceedings. That mission is accomplished through advocacy efforts of trained volunteers who are appointed by judges to make sure those children don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in inappropriate group or foster homes.
Volunteers stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many abused children, their Guardian ad Litem volunteer will be the single constant adult presence in their lives. And research has shown that children with a Guardian ad Litem volunteer are less likely to spend time in long-term foster care or to re-enter care.
Last year alone, nearly 75,000 Guardian ad Litem and Court Appointed Special Advocates volunteers helped 238,000 abused and neglected children find safe, permanent homes. Those Guardian ad Litem volunteers are everyday people who have undergone screening and training to effectively help these children in need.
The Voices for Children dance gives those interested in helping the Guardian ad Litem program an opportunity to do so and as an added bonus, spend some special time with a daughter or granddaughter. To learn more and to purchase tickets, visit www.voices4childrenfl.org. Those with questions can contact Villager Lynn Krupski at (352) 561-4899.