By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

The 2015 annual Court Appointed Special Advocates of the High Plains Valentine’s Evening will honor the memory of a former board of director and advocate Brenda Gabel, who passed away Feb. 11 of last year.

According to CASA  Executive Director Lyndsey Crisenbery, it was Gabel who started Valentine’s Evening — the nonprofit’s largest fundraiser — five years ago.

“She made the way for this event,” Crisenbery said. “She was a board member for years … and back in college, she was also a CASA volunteer, so CASA was very important to her.”

The goal important to Gabel and to CASA staff  is help the community’s “most vulnerable” children.

“They have either been abused or neglected by their parents, now they are in the court system,” Crisenbery said. “So CASAs go in a try to help the child … to find a safe and permanent home for them … and help guide them through the court system that can be confusing for them.”

Crisenbery added it is often the CASAs who are the “one person in (the child’s) life that sticks with them through the entire court case without switching.”

All funds raised from Valentine’s Evening go toward the recruitment, training and support for volunteers.

Valentine’s Evening is scheduled for Saturday, Feb., 14 at 6 p.m. at the Rose Garden Banquet Hall on East Highway 40.

Tickets are $30 each or $210 dollars for table of eight.

The event includes cocktail hour, dinner, a silent and live auction, as well as live music by Flatland Band.

For more information or to buy tickets, contact the CASA office, 107 W. 13th or call (785) 628-8641.

Tickets can also be purchased at  Commerce Bank, 2200 Vine, and the Eagle Communications Customer Care Center at Dillons, 1902 Vine.