The front room at CASA of Tarrant County is filled with unwrapped holiday gifts.
"This is a community effort," CASA volunteer Mackenzie said as she wrapped holiday gifts collected in toy drives. "So Christmas isn't about the gifts, but when you're a child, it really does make all the difference."
Mackenzie knows because CASA once supported her as a child growing up far away from North Texas.
"So the North Pole is this cute little town," Mackenzie said describing her Alaska hometown.
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"I know what it's like to want to be heard. To slip through the cracks. To have your story go untold," Mackenzie said of young childhood years.
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteers help mentor children who are referred through the courts when there is trauma at home. When Mackenzie, a TCU graduate, started volunteering for CASA of Tarrant County, it was a full-circle moment.
"I get to be the person that someone tells their story to," Mackenzie said. "It is a lot of responsibility, but also not, because at the end of the day, it's not hard to be a good person."
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Mackenzie says CASA volunteers can have an impact on the trajectory of a child's life. They can be a stable influence when the home feels unstable.
"It's not hard to pause your own life and take into consideration what's going on in someone else's, especially a child," Mackenzie said. "So it's not hard. It's not hard to set aside a little bit of time."
If you have the time to be a CASA volunteer, click here for more information.
