The Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children in Dauphin County has sworn in eight new volunteers.  Nearly 400 children are in foster care in Dauphin County, and the advocates work to ensure the safety of abused and neglected children in the county.

Now that the new volunteers have been sworn in, the program in Dauphin County has 40 advocates. Will Foster, Executive Director of the CASA Program in Dauphin County says this will positively impact the youth in foster care.

“It's really wonderful. Our program in a very short amount of time has gotten to the 40 mark for volunteers. And as I said earlier, it's a 1 to 1. So that means at least 40 children in our system are having a 1 to 1 experience. And that impact goes even beyond that, because some of our counselors have 2 or 3 kids, one has four. But that's the special circumstance that just gives a few more kids an extra set of eyes and ears that that can help them, “said Foster.

Maurice Knight is a newly sworn volunteer with CASA. He has served 23 years in the Military and during a National Night Out event in Lower Paxton Township, he spoke with someone within the program and wanted to give back to the community.

I like to see the fruits of the labor, so I'm looking forward to meeting the child or teenager that I'll be paired with and then watching them get through and hopefully, you know, lead to a successful life, “said Knight.

CLICK here to apply to be a volunteer.

CASA in Dauphin County is also asking for donations for their virtual giving tree which will benefit the children in foster care. The virtual giving tree is the agency's one and only annual fundraiser.

"They can donate a certain amount of money or however much money that they would like to donate and they can put a little message up or a picture up and then people can go on and read the stories. And it's pretty a pretty amazing fundraising event that we do, "said Foster.

CLICK here to donate to the virtual giving tree.