5th Annual ‘Pepco World of Wheels Family Festival’ for CASA/Prince George’s County Oct. 15

Here’s your chance get behind the wheel of an armored Brink’s security truck, help foster children who have been abused and neglected and meet Tomika Holmes, a bona fide role model for troubled youth.

You can do all this and more – games, food and music - on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Pepco’s 5th Annual ‘World of Wheels Family Festival’ for CASA/Prince George’s County. It will feature a “Touch a Truck,” meaning there will be a fleet of police, fire, utility and other vehicles there for folks to see, touch and sit in.

Overall, the festival is a fundraiser for CASA/Prince George’s County, a nonprofit that recruits and trains CASAs - Court Appointed Special Advocates – for more than 150 foster children a year. While admission is free, CASA/Prince George’s will collect donations and sell tickets for food, rides and various activities.

Ms. Holmes is a former foster child who had a court-appointed advocate. She’s now a CASA. She’s also an officer with Metro Transit Police Department who will help with “Touch a Truck” by bringing an anti-terrorism unit, a bomb squad truck and a canine vehicle.

“I love CASA because of what it does for children. I was one of those children,” said Holmes, who with the help of her court-appointed advocate was put on a road to success that included graduating college with honors and becoming a police officer as well as a wife and mother.

“I have come a long way because of hope and consistency, the kind of hope and consistency that a CASA provides a child,” said Holmes, who spent much of her youth in foster care.

The festival will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at DeMatha High School, 4313 Madison Street, Hyattsville, Md. A video game truck will be there from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Prince George’s County Council Member Deni Taveras, who is sponsoring admission to the festival, will be onsite to greet guests.

In addition to Pepco and Council Member Taveras, other sponsors include WTOP, Amerigroup, Dimensions Healthcare System, Turbo Haul, and Evergreen Technologies and Game Truck.

Studies show that a CASA can change a foster child’s life, making them more likely to do well in school, and be placed in a safe and permanent home.

Each CASA represents one foster child. They get to know their needs and challenges. The CASA then provides information and recommendations that help a judge decide what’s best for the child. The CASA is an advocate as well as an investigator, mentor and friend.

“A CASA is a difference maker,” said Holmes, the former foster child turned college graduate and police officer.

“The festival will help raise money to recruit and train more CASAs, more difference makers,” said Ann Marie Binsner, Executive Director of CASA/Prince George’s County. “Foster kids need them.”

For more information about CASA/Prince George’s call (301) 209-0491 or visit www.pgcasa.org.

For more information about the event: http://www.pgcasa.org/casa-event/ or the "World of Wheels for CASA Event Page" on Facebook. Or, contact event organizer Kara Bundy, at 301-209-0491 or wow4CASA@gmail.com.