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FAIRMONT - Sure, the phrase has technically entered the cliche zone in this hyper-communication age, but Amber Fancher loves using it anyway.
The one that goes, "Not all heroes wear capes," she means.
Fancher, who is the executive director of the Fairmont-based CASA of Marion County, witnesses what such unassuming life-changers do on a daily basis for her Fairmont-based organization.
CASAs are those court-appointed special advocates who plant their feet, and soar at the same time, for society's most vulnerable.
To be a CASA, is to be an advocate for children and teens from troubled households for whom foster care may be the only option - the only immediate one, anyway, she said.
Around here, she said, that's a big number relative to the population.
To date, around 6,000 children are currently in foster care in West Virginia, give or take.
This, in a state with a population of just 1.7 million people.
In Marion County, Fancher said, the concentration is 200 kids in foster care - again in a county with a population of not-quite 56,000 residents.
Which is why she might want you to don your metaphorical cape this morning and then put one foot in front of the other, for the Marion CASA group's top-tier fundraiser for the year.
CASA's "Superhero 5K Run and 2K Walk" will commence at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17 on the campus of Trinity Assembly of God Church in White Hall.
The event has a lot of participants who have registered in advance, the executive director said, but all runners and walkers are welcome - right up to the start time.
"We're not turning anyone away," Fancher said. "We appreciate people coming out."
Marion County Sheriff Roger Cunningham won't be running, he said, but he will be digging in, he said.
The law officer will be staffing tables for the cause.
His wife is a longtime CASA volunteer, and the sheriff, who has done substitute teaching in Marion County Schools, is also.
"CASA gives a voice to the kids who really need one," Cunningham said.
"Every child deserves love, safety and the opportunity for a bright future," he continued. "Protecting children is one of the most important responsibilities we'll ever have."
While not everyone has the space or resources to be a foster parent, Fancher said, everyone can be a hero - cape, badge or no.
"Maybe you've got a twin bed in your garage or basement you can donate to a foster family," she said. "Maybe you buy a set of LEGOs for a birthday present for a foster kid. There is so much you can do, and it all makes such a difference."
CHRONICLES OF CASA
A study on foster care released by Fairmont State University last told Fancher and other professionals in the arena what they already knew: that CASAs are consistently known to generate measurable, positive outcomes for children and teens suddenly finding themselves in foster care across the Mountain State.
Said study looked at a three-year period from 2019 to 2021, using numbers culled by the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System and the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect.
In counties where CASA is a presence, 25% of children in foster care were more likely to be adopted or reunited with their families - opposed to the 3% of kids in counties not served by the advocates.
And close to 40% of foster children in a CASA county were more likely to be lifted from a neglectful home versus the 7% of their counterparts at addresses in such locales not served.
"CASAs are the measured, caring and unbiased adults in the room," Fancher said.
Visit CASA of Marion County on social media or call 304-366-4198 to learn more about the organization and Saturday's race.