Courtney Oates

This October, I'm teeing up for the Capital Cup, a Ryder Cup–style tournament that brings together leaders from across the Sacramento region for three days of competitive golf — all in service of local charities. Every player represents a cause they believe in, and I'm playing for CASA Sacramento (Court Appointed Special Advocates), an organization that trains volunteers to advocate for children in the foster care system.

I've always felt drawn to causes that support kids who don't have many people in their corner. Foster youth are often moved between homes, social workers, and courtrooms, navigating an incredibly complex system with few, if any, consistent adults on their side. CASA changes that by giving each child a trained volunteer advocate who stays with them through it all — someone whose only job is to look out for that one kid.

CASA Sacramento served 265 foster children last year, yet reaches only 15% of the youth who need an advocate in our community. Your donation — whether $25 or $2,500 — helps train and support the volunteers who make that kind of steady presence possible. Thank you for backing me, and backing them.