Mahwah Woman Suzanne Curry to Receive Award from Bergen CASA

Suzanne Ordas Curry will receive the 2019 Angel Award from CASA for Children of Bergen County for her work with the organization for almost a decade. Suzanne was President of the organization for 4 years, handled the marketing for the organization on a volunteer basis and is currently Chair of the Advisory Council. Bergen CASA is an organization of about 150 people, mostly volunteers, that trains and provides advocates for children in foster care. Suzanne is a resident of Mahwah since 1996. She was on the Mahwah Board of Education for 3 terms, active in the Mahwah Schools Foundation and also served on the Executive Board of the HSA's in town. She has also been involved in the start-up of three charities focusing on children.

She has owned a PR firm for the past thirty years but for the past five years has also begun producing independent films. Most recently she is involved in An Acceptable Loss with Jamie Lee Curtis and Egg with Christina Hendricks, both now on demand. She is also Executive Producer of the new movie Killian and the Comeback Kids and Co-producer working with the producer of Home Alone on a local movie entitled A Case of Blue. Following her passion to help children in foster care, she is also a producer on a new film about child trafficking. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Rutgers University and has lived in NJ her whole life. She is a member of New York Women in Film and Television. She is married to Rob Curry and has two children, Ian and Shane.

Suzanne will receive the award from Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children of Bergen County at its 15th Annual Event: Casino Night: All In for the Children on March 13, 2018 from 6:30pm - 10:30pm at Seasons, 644 Pascack Road in Washington Township, NJ. Tickets are $135. Included in the ticket price is a wide array of hors d’oeuvres, food stations and desserts, open bar and $100 in casino play money. There will also be a basket raffle, silent auction with mobile bidding and other games in addition to exciting casino-style play throughout the evening. To purchase a ticket, please visit the website, www.BergenCASA.org or call 201-336-7520 for tickets and information. Donations for the evening's auctions and raffles are always welcome. If interested in donating an item or service, please contact Ellen Davis, Executive Director, at EllenDavis@BergenCASA.org or call the office.

"At this year’s event, CASA for Children of Bergen County is honored to present our Annual Angel Awards to Suzanne Ordas Curry, Past President, Karen Cedzidlo, Past VP, and Attorney Debra E. Guston, states Zonie LeSane, President. "We are also extremely proud to announce that Pat Battle, award-winning WNBC journalist and co-anchor of NBC 4 New York's Weekend Today in New York will emcee our event."

Zonie statess, "Suzanne has made a significant impact to our program by restructuring and revitalizing our organization. We are a small non-profit and realize the tremendous difference a person can make. All of these astounding women deserve this recognition. " states Zonie Le Sane, President. She adds, "We are an organization based on volunteers so of course at this event we will also be recognizing the outstanding work of our advocates."

CASA advocates are volunteers that advocate on behalf of the county’s abused and neglected children and work to ensure that needed services and assistance are made available to these children while helping them move toward safe and permanent homes as quickly as possible. CASA volunteers are assigned to only one case; either one child or one family of children at a time, which allows them to devote an enormous amount of time to that child so that he/she does not slip through the cracks of the judicial and child welfare systems. In short, the CASA volunteer is an open-minded and unbiased voice for the child in the court process and a consistent and caring person in the child’s life.

About the Honorees:

Suzanne Ordas Curry has been with Bergen CASA since 2011, serving as President for four years. She owns a PR firm and produces independent films which run in theaters and on demand.

Karen Cedzidlo has also been with Bergen CASA since 2011, serving as Vice President for four years. She has been an executive at Panasonic for over 2 decades.

Debra E. Guston, Esquire is a highly-recognized and awareded Bergen County Lawyer and lecturer known for her extraordinary work in dealing and advocating for adoption, LGBT, reproductive and family rights.

Currently, there are more children in foster care in Bergen County than CASA has the volunteers or financial resources, to handle, and Bergen County CASA's goal is to have an advocate for every child. Advocates are always needed and additional funds help us grow the program. If interested in becoming a CASA volunteer, please visit the website and sign up for an information session.

For more information on CASA, email info@bergencasa.org or visit www.bergencasa.org. If you would like to make a monetary donation, would like to know how to become a CASA volunteer or would like to know other ways to help, please call Ellen Davis, Executive Director at 201-336-7520 or visit our website. CASA is located at One Bergen County Plaza in Hackensack.