DALLAS – Pioneer Natural Resources, Goldman Sachs and AT&T joined forces to host the Dallas CASA Classic. This annual invitational golf tournament benefits Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), which provides advocates in court for abused children. The three hosts presented a check to Dallas CASA for $1.5 million.
Scott Sheffield, Pioneer Chairman and CEO, said, “We are honored to co-host this golf tournament each year to support Dallas CASA and to provide hope for children in foster care. These funds are critical to meeting CASA’s mission of increasing their trained volunteer base and serving more children. We are especially grateful to our generous business partners for their participation and to all of the employee volunteers who made this tournament a success.”
Kathleen M. LaValle, Dallas CASA Executive Director and President, commented, “Funding from the Dallas CASA Classic makes a tremendous difference in the number of volunteer advocates we can train and supervise to serve more of the abused and neglected children in protective care. The three host companies bring the strong commitment of their leadership, contributing their resources and dedicating so many hours of employee support to the success of this annual event. The passion of everyone involved with the tournament is so impressive. Participants know they are helping to make a positive difference in the lives of abused and neglected children. They share our frustration that nearly half of Dallas children who were in foster care last year did not have a volunteer advocate. We are so fortunate to have the Classic’s hosts and sponsors share our determination that every single child in protective care deserves the caring and consistent support of a volunteer advocate.”
“We are honored to partner with Pioneer Natural Resources and AT&T and will continue to extend our support to CASA in their mission of supporting Dallas’ most at-risk children,” said Tom Dowling, Goldman Sachs partner and head of the Irving office. “There are expected to be more than 4,000 abused and neglected children in Dallas County protective care this year. Through the generosity and commitment of our business partners and employees, together we are making an impact in serving as many of the children as possible.”
Bill Smith, AT&T President of Technology Operations, said, “We are pleased to partner with Pioneer Natural Resources and Goldman Sachs for this worthy cause and thankful for the support of our generous sponsors and volunteers. The funds raised from this tournament will enable Dallas CASA to help more than 2,250 local children find safe, permanent homes, hopefully ending the cycle of abuse and neglect. We look forward to participating next year so we can help Dallas CASA make progress toward their goal to serve 100% of Dallas’ children in need.”