Five Years of Relationships Behind Little Black Dress

Two weeks after Little Black Dress, I am still thinking about that room.

More than 400 women. A dance floor full of energy. Businesses cheering for one another. Volunteers assisting guests with friendly smiles. Friends laughing around tables. Sponsors being celebrated. Women raising their glasses together. The silence of the room sharing our Alex & Shannon video. And, at the center of it all, a community of women coming together for children.

This year, Little Black Dress raised $125,842 — more than ever before.

That number is incredible. I am proud of it. Our entire CASA team is proud of it.

But when I look back at that night, the number isn’t really what I see.

I see relationships.

I have been on staff at CASA for five years, and one of the greatest gifts of my job has been watching relationships grow. Some started with an email. Some began when I walked into a business and introduced myself. Others started at a Chamber event, over coffee, at another nonprofit’s fundraiser, through an Advocate, a Board member, a sponsor, a volunteer or simply because someone told someone else about CASA.

And then those relationships began to ripple.

A business that donated an item became an event sponsor.

A guest brought a friend who had never heard of CASA.

A sponsor introduced us to another business.

An event volunteer returned the next year and brought someone with her.

Someone who attended an event began following CASA, then donated, then shared our mission with someone else.

One connection became another, and another.

That is the Ripple Effect.

We often talk about the Ripple Effect in relation to the children CASA serves. A CASA Advocate builds a relationship with one child. That steady presence can influence what happens in court, at school, in a placement, within a family and eventually in that child’s future. The impact of one relationship can stretch much farther than we will ever fully see.

I realized this year that Little Black Dress works the same way.

The event we experienced on October 8th wasn’t created in the weeks leading up to it. It was built over years.

It was built through conversations, trust and people continuing to say yes.

Yes, we’ll sponsor again.

Yes, we’ll donate something.

Yes, we’ll bring a table.

Yes, we’ll volunteer.

Yes, tell me more about CASA.

Yes, introduce me to someone who might want to help.

And sometimes, simply: Yes, I’ll show up.

That may be my favorite thing about Little Black Dress.

There are women in that ballroom who have been attending for years, and there are women experiencing CASA for the very first time. There are longtime sponsors and brand-new businesses. There are CASA Advocates, donors, volunteers, community leaders, friends and women who came because someone invited them to a fun night out.

Not everyone in that room will become a CASA Advocate. And they don’t have to.

There are so many ways to become part of the foundation that allows CASA Advocates to do their work.

Every sponsorship, raffle ticket, donated bottle of wine, gift card, table purchased and contribution strengthens CASA’s ability to recruit, train and support Advocates and sustain the programs and resources surrounding the children we serve.

That is why the phrase we used throughout this year’s event means so much to me:

Because women who show up change lives.

Showing up can look different for every person.

For an Advocate, it may mean walking beside a child through uncertainty and making sure that child’s voice is heard.

For a business, it may mean investing in an organization doing important work in its community.

For a volunteer, it may mean giving hours of their time behind the scenes.

For a guest at Little Black Dress, it may begin with simply accepting an invitation from a friend.

You never really know where that first yes will lead.

I certainly couldn’t have predicted five years ago that individual conversations and connections would eventually help fill a ballroom with more than 400 women and contribute to the most successful Little Black Dress in CASA of McHenry County’s history.

But that is exactly what a ripple does.

It starts small.

It moves outward.

And when enough ripples meet, they can become something far bigger than any one of us could have created alone.

To Harmony Falls Massage Clinic & Spa, our new Presenting Sponsor, to every sponsor and business that invested in the evening, to Vigeo Care Center & Aesthetics for making our Gift Card Wall possible, to every in-kind donor, our Event Committee, volunteers, Board members, staff, table hosts and every woman who walked through those doors — thank you.

You weren’t simply part of an event.

You were part of five years of relationships coming together in one room.

And now those relationships will keep moving outward.

That may be the most beautiful part of the Ripple Effect.

One incredible night ends. The impact of it doesn’t.

— Jen Gibson
Events & Communications Manager