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Caring and Serving Together
A Year in Review
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A year to celebrate!
As we celebrate 2022, we are also celebrating YOU and the impact that you have made by linking arms with CAST. Just a few examples...
- Children and teens mentored
- Thousands of meals provided through the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank
- The Moore family celebrating the holidays in their new home
I hope you enjoy a look back at the year we have shared and I hope you are as excited as I am for the year ahead!
Wishing you a beautiful holiday.
With gratitude,
Sonja White
Executive Director
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#CASTkids at AIM Academy kicked off 2022 by making tie blankets for The Children's Toy Fund! This awesome group of 3rd and 4th graders meets weekly with the intent to have fun and Care and Serve Together. |
In February we watched our affiliate, RippleFX, partner with The Children's Toy Fund to host a massive "blanket bundle" event at camp. Middle Schoolers from RiverTree Jackson spent two hours building and praying over blanket bundles! It's so exciting for us see the Lord work through all of our partners. |
March was an exciting month for CAST as we gained two new serving partners! Our students and adults have enjoyed serving at the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank and our #CASTkids have formed an amazing relationship with the staff and residents at Allay Senior Care. |
April was an exciting month for our #CASTkids from Youtz Leadership School -- they were featured in the Bulldog Bulletin! This group of 4th-6th graders have some of the biggest hearts in the whole city! | |
Since Summer 2021 #CASTkids of all ages have helped The Children's Toy Fund assemble over 100 "blanket bundles"! These bundles of cuddly fun are given to children in foster care to make their first night in a new place a little more welcoming and cozy! | |
#CASTKids will launch at @ RiverTree Jackson
January 2023
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Canton City students had Saint Patrick's day off school...#CASTkids from Early College High School spent their bonus holiday at Allay Senior Care, throwing the residents a holiday party! |
Our 2022/23 CAST @ Youtz Crew! | If you, a friend or a family member would like to join our mailing list to receive our monthly emails just follow our "text to join" prompt above! | | | |
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May was an exciting month for ECHS CAST Students! #CASTkids at Early College spent their last CAST meeting of the School year chalking the walk at Allay Senior Care and...
EIGHT of our seniors were awarded scholarships for their leadership over the past four years.
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June was an awesome month, full of friends gathering to make a difference! CAST, is simply about Caring for others and lending a helping hand when needed. We got to watch this happen first hand when a group of nearly 15 friends, from all stages and walks of life, got together to help take down vinyl fencing that was donated to the Habitat Restore the following day! | 600 ft of fencing was nothing for this hardworking crew! In only a few hours the fence was down and all the helping hands were ready to chow down on some pizza! |
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In May, we also had the opportunity to gather for our first "reboot" event! At this event those who gathered had an opportunity to hear from all of the different branches of CAST including, our affiliates RippleFX and CAMP! Coming out of the pandemic, it has been such a joy to gather with friends once again. | Our Second CAST Reboot event took place in June at Glenmoor. We heard from Habitat for Humanity about the upcoming Moore Family Build, and from former CAST students about the lasting impact CAST and CAMP have had on their lives. | CAST has had the honor to build alongside Habitat for Humanity since 2016, sponsoring two builds in 2016 and a home preservation in 2018. | | | |
July was an absolute blast for our middle school aged #CASTkids as we kicked off Blessing Boot Camp for the second year in a row! Blessing Boot Camp is a free, once a week, summer day camp where middle schoolers gather at The One Center For Leadership in downtown Canton. Each week, students have fun, play games and share in hands on serving opportunities at different nonprofits in Canton. |
In August we broke ground on the Moore Family Habitat Home and began building alongside MiKaila and The North Canton Chapel! |
September provided us the opportunity to gather, and give not once, but twice! | Our annual Golf Caddie Fundraiser event was a huge success! This simple, yet fun event remains CAST's only annual fundraising event that funds multiple scholarships from the students we love and support! |
October was a fun month full of new traditions and fellowship! #CASTkids kicked off the start of the month with "cookie jar" assembly! This is the second holiday season where our #CASTkids have worked hard to assemble jars for families with active foster care placements and it is very quickly becoming one of our favorite projects we do each year. | In October we also had a night of fun and food as the White Family hosted a bonfire! It was a great fall evening filled with friendship! | |
The best part about Blessing Boot Camp? All summer long we have high school leaders who volunteer their time to help run camp, mentor and serve alongside our middle schoolers! | In August, we gathered at The Savage's home for an evening of fellowship and to hear from CAMP students. To say these students are impressive would be a massive understatement! Above we have linked to a video from the event. Their insights and your impact make this video a must see! | In addition to our annual September Golf Tournament, CAST hosted an evening to share information about the Habitat build and give people the opportunity to link arms with our work. We are committed to our partnership with Habitat and look forward to future builds! | In October, John Sypek rotated off the CAST Board of Directors. John's heart, wisdom and commitment have been foundational to CAST and are reflected in the core of our work. His humble example of servant leadership will be missed. We wish John and Rhonda every good thing as they step into the next exciting chapter and are grateful they will continue to be an integral part of CAST's important work.! | | | |
In November we feasted! Lesley Venturella, together with the help of some of our other fabulous CAST crew, prepared and served a Thanksgiving dinner like no other for our friends at the JRC Adult Day Center! From the thoughtful table decor, to the incredible home cooked meal, it was an afternoon that meant the world to the JRC members. In fact, our friends enjoyed it so much, they asked if they could have it every week! |
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December was a month for Celebration! We had a wonderful time at our annual Christmas party hosted by the Bhagat's. We are thankful for their hospitality and the gifts of great food and great friends!
We gathered on December 4th to celebrate with The Moore Family as they recieved the keys to their new home -- just in time for the holidays! Thank you to the North Canton Chapel for hosting this morning to celebrate MiKaila and her family!
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This Fall, Matt Kinlow also rotated off the Board of Directors. Matt's dedication to CAST is unwavering. His important perspective as a former CASTkid, participant in the Caddie program, and CAMP student (where he interned with West Medical) especially helped inform our work with students. We are incredibly grateful for his commitment to CAST and wish him the very best. | CAST is excited to welcome Courtney Brown to the Board of Directors. Courtney is a long time supporter and friend of CAST and we know her insight as Habitat's Director of Family and Faith Partnership will go a long way in continuing the tradition of CAST building relationships in the community. | This year, Sonja White joined CAST as the Executive Director and in October, joined the Board of Directors. Her commitment to the local community, her passion for serving and her belief that we are blessed to be a blessing to others will be imporant as CAST looks ahead to 2023. | | | | | |
