News & Updates
Celebrate National Adoption Month
This month is the celebration of Adoption during November. It originally began in 1976 by then Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis and began as Adoption Week. Officially, National Adoption Day is the Saturday before Thanksgiving; which makes Saturday, November 14th the official date. For your family’s consideration, we offer a collection of ideas for you to consider for celebrating.
Ten Ideas for Celebrating National Adoption Month
- Read adoption books to a class – take pride in being an adoptive
family by talking to a child’s class about adoption if your child is
interested. Some examples of books can be: Todd Parr’s We Belong Together
and I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose A. Lewis.
- Connect with FCC/FCV group – Your group can go out to eat as a group
or other fun event and then share a large cake with a candle for each adoptive
family in the group. (Thanks to the Cleveland FCC group for sharing this
idea!)
- Send cards or letters to people touched by adoption – show connections
to others through adoption. Send a note to a child’s teacher who is
adopting. Or plan to meet someone at the airport returning from an
adoption trip.
- Watch a movie with an adoption theme – Have a family movie night
that includes movies that are portraying adoption in a positive light.
- Go to Wendy’s for dinner – Dave Thomas, the founder of both Wendy’s
and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption was adopted as a young child. Proceeds
from Wendy’s restaurants support the Dave Thomas Foundation which
supports thousands of children in foster care waiting for permanent
families.
- Ask your house of worship to incorporate recognition of National
Adoption month, have special prayer time for adoptive families, or
discuss adoption examples found within sacred text.
- Throw a party with friends – always a fun idea! Throw an Asian themed party
and invite friends. Dress in traditional dress, order Chinese take out and relax – you
can put out sleeping bags and watch movies about China such as the “Peng
Wei” DVD series or others.
- Reconnect with your travel group -- They shared a life changing journey
with you originally. Write a special note to your travel group members
and plan a reunion, maybe a return visit to Asia!
- Read life books and add to them – Bring out the life books and share each
child’s adoption story. Add to the life book each year by including
items such as newspaper clippings of personal achievements, meaningful
poetry and special photos.
- Donate to Love Without Boundaries (www.lovewithoutboundaries.com)
or other groups involved in helping children find families. Check
out the children identified in Rainbow Kids newsletter that are looking
for homes, or consider sponsoring a child in foster care in Asia.
Whether your celebration is small or large, any celebration of adoption brings awareness to this wonderful way of forming a family. This month it’s a great time to recognize and celebrate adoption.