LOCAL BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS INVITED TO SPONSOR A CUSTOM-DECORATED HOLIDAY TREE AT THE SECOND ANNUAL “DECK THE HALL- FESTIVAL OF TREES” EVENT AT BOARDWALK HALL

Spectra by Comcast Spectacor, the provider of Venue Management and Food Services & Hospitality to Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall and the Convention Center, today announced a partnership with the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children of Atlantic and Cape May Counties to support neglected and abused children this holiday season. 

Local businesses, organizations, arena partners, and individuals are invited to “Deck The Hall” by sponsoring a custom-decorated holiday tree which will be displayed at a private reception with individuals and agencies who help local children and families in the Boardwalk Hall lobby on Thursday, December 3, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and to the public for the remainder of the holiday season. Proceeds from the event will be donated directly to CASA to help recruit and train more volunteers to serve foster children in the welfare system of Atlantic and Cape May counties.

“We are extremely excited and appreciative of Spectra’s partnership with CASA for Children and the Deck the Hall Festival of Trees,” said CASA’s Karen DeRosa, Director of Community Development. “This is a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness in foster care and the over 1,000 children in our community who enter this system each year because of abuse and neglect. Spectra’s commitment to foster youth through this event will help CASA recruit and train more volunteer advocates, increase our service to our youth and nudge us closer to our goal of providing an advocate to every child living in foster care who needs one.”

CASA for Children recruits, trains, and supports citizen-volunteers who advocate for children in the community and ensures that a well-trained independent volunteer is able to voice timely and objective recommendations to the Family Court on behalf of a child. A child with a CASA volunteer is:

Twice as likely to be adopted, than to linger in long-term foster care
Half as likely to re-enter the foster care system
More likely to have a plan for finding a permanent home, especially children of color
More likely to have better educational achievement 

In Atlantic and Cape May Counties 475 children have a CASA volunteer, a trusted adult who will stick with them until their case is resolved. Over 30% of children living in foster care spend more than two years in care and nearly 600 children are still waiting for a volunteer.

“We are excited to partner with the local community again as we host the second annual Deck the Hall- Festival of Trees event.  This year we have partnered with CASA to support local children and to generate awareness about a great organization who’s cause is often overlooked,” said Spectra’s Fran Rodowicz, General Manager of Boardwalk Hall.

To become a sponsor, please contact Kara Cermanski at 609.348.7021 or Kara_Cermanski@comcastspectacor.com.

Last year, the first annual Deck the Hall Festival of Trees event generated more than $6,000 for the Community FoodBank of New Jersey Southern Branch to support those in need during the holiday season.

About CASA

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Atlantic and Cape May Counties and its trained volunteers speak on behalf of abused and neglected children in the foster care system and are dedicated to ensuring these children are placed in safe permanent homes as quickly as possible. For more info, visit AtlanticCapeCASA.org.

Spectra by Comcast Spectacor is the expert in hosting and entertainment, partnering with over 300 clients at 400 global properties to create memorable experiences for millions of visitors every year. Spectra’s expertise is embodied within three divisions: Venue Management (formerly Global Spectrum), Food Services & Hospitality (formerly Ovations Food Services) and Ticketing & Fan Engagement (formerly Paciolan). Learn more at SpectraExperiences.com.

Comcast Spectacor is part of Comcast Corporation, a Fortune 50 media and technology company that operates Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa., in addition to Spectra, Comcast Spectacor owns and operates the National Hockey League’s Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center venue. Visit us at ComcastSpectacor.com, PhiladelphiaFlyers.com and WellsFargoCenterPhilly.com for more information.