Everyone has a soft spot. For Newport Beach's Chris Massey, it's
children.
More than 3,000 children in Orange County are in the foster care
and the juvenile court system on an average day, and a large
percentage of them are in need of stable relationships and mentors.
Social workers and judges manage multiple cases and rarely have
time to focus on a single child. That's where the Court Appointed
Special Advocates program (CASA) comes in.
The juvenile court appoints volunteers to serve as advocates for
children going through court proceedings.
The mentors work with children one-on-one and represent them in
court. They also spend time with the children every week, to help
them understand the case and the child's needs.
The organization's Orange County chapter was founded in 1985 with
help from the Junior League. It wasn't until several years later that
it began developing into the successful nonprofit it is today,
serving hundreds of children in foster care each year.
Chris Massey was instrumental in developing the Orange County
chapter's advisory board, which is the source of 70% -- about
$700,000 -- of the program's funding. His wife, Pam Massey, got
involved when it was a Junior League project, which is how Chris
Massey learned about the organization.
"Chris really has been instrumental, especially in the CASA
advisory board and initially founding that board," said Greg
Bradbard, director of development for the group's Orange County
chapter. "It's been that board that's really enabled CASA to grow."
Pam Massey said her husband recognized it as a wonderful program
and noticed its funding problems. At that time, the Orange County
chapter was able to serve only about 15 to 20 kids per year.
Fred Port, retired president of Callaway International, helped
created the advisory board for Court Appointed Special Advocates'
Orange County group with Chris Massey.
As a managing partner for Deloitte & Touche, Chris Massey has many
contacts within the business community. He and Port started
brainstorming on how they could improve the group by using their
business contacts.
Within a year, Port and Chris Massey co-founded the advisory
board. Pacific Life, Pacific Investment Management Company, Deloitte
& Touche and the law firm Gibson Dunn committed to raising money for
Court Appointed Special Advocates.
"Now there's probably 25 to 30 companies that all are annually
committed to raising money -- at least $10,000 per company, and most
of them do a lot more," Chris Massey said.
