Anyone who knows Tom and Meg Stallard knows that giving back to the community is in their blood. And while they’ve given back to the community in major ways over the past several decades, they do dozens of things on a regular basis out of the goodness of their hearts that largely go unnoticed. Today we want to shine light on an act of kindness that made all the difference in the world to Yolo County CASA.
Regular readers of our “Hearts of Yolo” profiles know that we’ve been growing quickly to try to fulfill our goal to someday provide every foster child in Yolo County with a CASA volunteer. And while we were thrilled when we filled our Winter CASA training to capacity, we quickly realized that we didn’t have the space to accommodate a class that large. We were in a dilemma and our choices were to either reschedule, split the training into two, or find a space large enough on short notice. We really didn’t want to entertain the first two options because we have a long waiting list of kids who need a CASA.
When Tom and Meg Stallard heard of our situation, they quickly offered the use of one of their larger facilities downtown for our training. We also learned that they lend this facility to several other nonprofits who need it for events on a regular basis.
To quantify what this generous act of kindness means to us, it means that 28 foster children now have a chance at having a CASA in a few short months. It means that these foster children will now be more likely to graduate high school, attend college, and be physically and mentally healthier as adults. They will also have a higher chance of avoiding homelessness and incarceration—outcomes that happen all too often in the foster system. But outcomes that are easily reversed with just one stable and consistent adult relationship…
When asked why she gives back to the community, Meg says, “It’s always been our love—to give back to the place that’s given us so much.” Tom said, “If there is something we can do to help our surrounding community, Meg and I are always in.”
Specifically regarding CASA, Tom remembers the creation of the organization fondly, “When I was on the Board of Supervisors, Larry Shapiro was a friend of mine and he wanted to bring a CASA chapter to Yolo County. I helped facilitate some key meetings during that time and Meg and I have enjoyed watching the organization grow over the years. It truly encompasses the concept of changing the world one child at a time. We’re happy to do what we can.”
And “what they could,” was quite a bit. Thank you, Meg and Tom, for this act of kindness, and everything else you do to make our community a special place.
