We are blown away by the community support for our first Taste of Milam event by CASA of Milam County. This event was a tremendous success, exceeding all expectations. On the night of the event itself, we are thrilled to announce we raised an impressive $23,115 through ticket sales, donations, and various activities. The strong showing on the event night was just the beginning, however, as the total proceeds from the entire event amounted to an outstanding $51,630. Of course, there are some necessary expenses associated with hosting the event to be deducted.
This event would not have been possible without our sponsors. We want to give a huge shout-out to Lin Perry with Perry and Perry Builders, as well as those who have sponsored our UTV giveaway including RIOT, David Schatz, Engie Corp Solar Project, USA Technologies, Rhonda Debault, Cameron Area Christian Services, McLane Group, Steven & Jesica Rickman and Alpha One Chevrolet. We must also thank Haber Wealth Management and Standards Home Health. Other sponsors for this event include Bradley Plumbing, Eagle Bank in Taylor, EBCO General Contractors, Jack Hilliard Distributing, Milam County Masonic Lodges, State Farm Insurance in Cameron, Thorndale Lumber Company, Scrooge 1, Scrooge 2, Rockdale Federal Credit Union, Steve and Lynn Young, Buckholts State Bank, Rockdale Country Ford/Impact Family Wellness, Classic Bank, Cindy Lindemann, Rockdale Rotary, Mine Services Inc, Rockdale Building Material Center, Caffey Corner, Cameron Area Christian Services, Mikeska Distributing, Elvis McQuinn with ATX Armory, State Representative Stan Gerdes, Farm Bureau Insurance-Joseph Quebe, LLC, KRM Concrete & Construction Inc., Baylor Scott & White Taylor location, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and State Senator Charles Schwertner. We also want to thank Rebecca Luckey for assisting us in spreading the word about the event, along with the Cameron Chamber of Commerce for co-sponsoring the event, The Rockdale Reporter, The Cameron Herald and The Thorndale Champion for always assisting us.
We want to thank the vendors that participated in the event. Without them, those in attendance would not have had the chance to sample some of the best cuisine Milam County offers. 7 Bar BBQ, Balderas Joint, Big Boy’s Barbecue, Cait’s Cookies, Cameron Beer Market, Central Ave Bistro, East Bell Taphouse, En Gedi Vineyards, Fiesta Taco 2.0, Gonzalez Mexican Restaurant (now Maricela’s Bar & Grill), Husher Cookies, Jack Hilliard Distributing, Joe’s Italian, Moon Brew Coffee, Shannon Biar and Daughter with Jacob’s Ladder, Shirley Mae’s Bakery, Slovacek Sausage, The Ranch, Thirsty Mule Winery & Schitz Creek Distillery, Touch of Elegance Cakes & Catering and Triple C Winery. The event included a UTV giveaway, six gun giveaways, over 50 silent auction items, a purse, wine and whiskey pull, a live auction, and the musical taste of The Other Band. We want to thank Kayla Kleypas for all her hard work on the silent auction items. Our mission is to provide trained court-appointed advocates for abused and neglected children in CPS care; to represent those children in court through collaboration with family members, key agencies, legal counsel, as well as community resources, and to ensure the child has a voice. The ultimate goal of CASA of Milam County is to assure the safe reunification of child(ren) with parents/family or placement with a permanent adoptive family.
The money we raised from this event will enable CASA of Milam County to continue advocating for abused and neglected children in CPS care. Besides funds needed for operational expenses and office supplies, including printers, computers, and office furniture, some of the funds we need are designated for specific security software to ensure records of the foster children we serve are protected and can remain confidential. The expense of preparing quality Advocates to serve the children includes pre-service and ongoing training and associated materials. CASA Advocates are volunteers assigned cases that may involve travel, outside of Milam County or even outside the State of Texas. These expenses may be in the form of paid mileage or even airfare to other states. The only paid employee of CASA of Milam County is our Executive Director. As we move toward our goal of providing an Advocate for each Milam County child placed in out-of-home care, that number could rapidly increase. With this increase in cases, there will be a need to hire an Advocate Supervisor for every 20 Advocates. We also pay dues to National CASA, as well as pay for background checks and fingerprinting for all our Board Members, employees, and Advocates. Board members must also complete continued training every year. The Executive Director is required to attend current training on the laws and updates for 501c3 entities and the CASA program. Our program’s budget is around $150,000 a year.
Thank you to our Advocates, David Hall for emceeing, auctioneering, and the many volunteers who assisted with making the evening a success. We have already begun planning for next year. Mark your calendars and join us for Taste of Milam 2025 on September 20, 2025, at Kiesling Ranch, located at 2732 County Road 430, Thorndale, TX 76577.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.