(COLORADO SPRINGS) — CASA of the Pikes Peak Region will be hosting “Dudes & Brews,” a volunteer recruitment event at Goat Patch Brewing Company.

Those who RSVP for the event will enjoy a free drink, as well as a free appetizer, while learning what it means to be a CASA volunteer for a local boy involved with the child welfare system and family court system due to abuse or neglect.

“Young people, regardless of their family situation, are craving guidance, leadership, and a trusting adult who they can lean on,” says CASA volunteer advocate Brian Volk. “Men, regardless of their family situation and history, have guidance, experience, and leadership to contribute. Volunteering with CASA gives men the opportunity to change a child’s story, a story that they have had little to no power to write themselves so far.”

In a 12 month-period , there are about 800 kids in the Pikes Peak Region who need a CASA volunteer to advocate for their best interests. Many children are in foster care, and about half are boys who need a safe and positive male role model in their lives.

Boys who have experienced trauma, abuse. or neglect run a high risk of repeating cycles of violence, which often runs generationally through families.

CASA aims to recruit more men who can show boys what it looks like to be a safe, respectful, and responsible adult man. “Dudes & Brews” will be held at Goat Patch Brewery Company, located at 2727 N. Cascade Avenue #123, from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.