April 11: Dallas CASA’s Cherish the Children Luncheon Will Raise Funds for Child Victims of Abuse
Agency Will Honor Regina Montoya and Paul Coggins with the Caroline Rose Hunt Cherish the Children Award
(Featured photo: Regina Montoya and Paul Coggins, Caroline Rose Hunt Cherish the Children Award recipients.)
Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) will hold the 2025 Cherish the Children luncheon on Friday, April 11 at the Arts District Mansion. The event will raise funds for the children served by Dallas CASA.
Dallas CASA will honor Dallas luminaries Regina Montoya and Paul Coggins with the Caroline Rose Hunt Cherish the Children Award for their work on behalf of vulnerable children. Regina and Paul are well-known Dallas attorneys and civic leaders, lending their support to such diverse causes as poverty, hunger, childcare and more.
A frequent national public speaker and former award-winning television commentator, Regina was appointed by former mayor Mike Rawlings to lead the Dallas Task Force on Poverty, and she was appointed by the president to serve as the United States representative to the 53rd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Today, Regina is executive director of the Tricolor Foundation, a nonprofit holistically supporting the Hispanic community. She also serves on several nonprofit boards including the Dallas Education Foundation, Dallas College and the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society, where she just began a term as chair of the board.
Paul is a partner with Troutman Pepper Locke and is a former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. He is a nationally recognized white collar criminal defense attorney whose clients have included high-ranking politicians, Fortune 500 executives, professional athletes and government bodies. Paul is also an author of mystery thrillers, a Rhodes Scholar and a board member and past president of the National Association of Former United States Attorneys. He and Regina are both graduates of Harvard Law School.
Between them, Regina and Paul are an incredible force for good in Dallas, and their long commitment to Dallas CASA has created a legacy of support for child victims of abuse or neglect. In collaboration with Dallas CASA and others, Paul established Target: Kids in Court to expedite the court process and move children into permanent homes more quickly. After serving on Dallas CASA’s board for 16 years, including a term as board chair, Paul was elected an emeritus director. Together, Regina and Paul co-chaired Dallas CASA’s Champion of Children Award Dinner in 2018.
“We look forward to recognizing Regina and Paul for their commitment to Dallas children,” said Kathleen LaValle, president and CEO of Dallas CASA. “They have brought passion, energy, creativity, expertise and their whole hearts to this work, and the system and the children it serves are better because of their contributions.”
The award, which recognizes individuals or organizations for outstanding contributions to helping children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect, is named for another Dallas luminary and longtime friend and supporter of Dallas CASA, Caroline Rose Hunt to honor her constant dedication to the most vulnerable in our city.
Dallas CASA seeks to protect children and restore childhood by training and supervising community members to serve as volunteer advocates for child victims of abuse and neglect living in the protective care of the state. For many children in care, their Dallas CASA volunteer is the only consistent, caring adult in their lives during an uncertain time. In 2024, 1,009 trained community members served 2,042 children who had been removed from home. Now in its 45th year, Dallas CASA has been able to serve every Dallas child in need of an advocate for the past six years. But sadly more children enter foster care every year so more volunteers are needed.
Guests at the luncheon will hear from The New York Times bestselling author and children’s rights attorney Andrew Bridge. Bridge spent his childhood in foster care in California and is an advocate for foster care reform in the United States. His 2024 book “The Child Catcher: A Fight for Justice and Truth” covers his experience working as a civil rights attorney representing children of the Eufaula Adolescent Center, Alabama’s largest mental institution for children, where troubled youth including many foster children were subjected to mistreatment before it was closed. Bridge is a Harvard Law School graduate, Fullbright Scholar and co-founder of National Adoption Day.
The event’s host, the Dallas CASA Children’s Council, is the principal auxiliary support group for the agency’s volunteers. The group raises funds through special events and promotes community awareness about the needs of the children Dallas CASA serves and the transformational effect a loving, dedicated CASA volunteer advocate has on these children’s lives.
Luncheon co-chairs are Lauren Rose Sands and Kathleen Thorson, both members of Dallas CASA Children’s Council.
Dallas CASA would like to thank the following 2025 Cherish the Children underwriters:
Presenting Sponsor
The Rosewood Corporation
CASA Protector
Troutman Pepper Locke / Carol and Don Glendenning
CASA Keeper
CREST Cadillac / Jana and Mike Brosin
Deri and Douglas Hartman
Marshalling Resources, LLC
Sara Faulconer Sands
Merle Turner
Leslie and Geoff Wayne
CASA Patron
Priscilla and Corey Anthony
The Hoglund Foundation
Debby Ackerman and John Lozier
Cynthia Pladziewicz, Ph.D
Gina and Randall Porter
Linda and Rob Swartz
CASA Friend
AT&T Legal Department
BakerHostetler
Mary Lynn and Fred Bangs
Fran and Mark Berg
Kappa Alpha Theta Dallas Alumnae
Kathleen Cain / Alexandra Lovitt
Barbara and Ben Cervin / Margaret Cervin
Debby and Hugh Comer
Dallas Mavericks
Hannah Francis
Veronica and Daniel Manriquez
Morgan, Lewis & Brockius LLP
Lauren Rose Sands
Nicki and Paul Stafford
Kathleen and Todd Thorson
Lisa and Tony Truppa
Wales Family Foundation
About Dallas CASA Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) seeks to protect children, restore childhood and help child victims of abuse or neglect achieve their full potential. Judges assign the agency’s trained and supervised community volunteers to advocate for the best interests of children who have experienced abuse or neglect and are living in the protective care of the state. For many children in foster care, their Dallas CASA volunteer is the only consistent, caring adult in their lives during a frightening, uncertain time. Dallas CASA envisions a day when all children experience safe childhoods and grow into resourceful, healthy adults. Now in its 45th year, Dallas CASA serves more children than any of the more than 900 CASA programs nationwide. In 2024, 1,009 Dallas CASA volunteers were assigned to advocate for 2,042 children in protective care. For the past six years, the agency has been able to provide an advocate for every Dallas child in need. To learn more, visit dallascasa.org
Courtesy photos Dallas CASA.
(Philanthropy Lifestyles sponsored eBuzz.)
