November 2, 2008: National Adoption Month
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Did you know that NOVEMBER is "National Adoption Month" in the United States?
The History of Adoption Month (taken from "NACAC:" North American Council on Adoptable Children) Formalized, time-specific adoption awareness campaigns originated more than 20 years ago. In May 1976, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued the first state Adoption Week proclamation, and President Ford then officially proclaimed the week in a letter to the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) conference held later that year. As years went on, Adoption Week came to be observed during the week of Thanksgiving in November.
In 1986, NACAC helped coordinate a national "Calling Out" event based on an idea from Larry Gellerstein, then president of the Adoptive Parent Committee of New York. That year groups across North America braved late November weather and simultaneously assembled on state and provincial capitol steps to read statements about waiting children, and call out the names of waiting children in their state or province.
In 1990, NACAC decided to expand opportunities for raising awareness, and began advertising Adoption Week as National Adoption Awareness Month (November). The idea has quickly caught on, and Adoption Month has celebrated ever since.
In 2005, a Presidential Proclamation
of November 19 marked "National Adoption Day" where thousands
of children across the United States have their adoption finalized in court!
CELEBRATE
ADOPTION
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As an adoptive family, what can
you do to celebrate National Adoption Month?
- contact your local schools and
help them celebrate too
- contact your local child care
facilities and ask them to celebrate adoption too
- connect with your employer/HR
and start an adoption benefit
- start an adoptive family support
group in your area
- plan a community gathering with
your local adoptive families support groups
- write a letter (and send a photo)
to your congress person to help encourage their support
- write a letter to your child's
birth/first parents, expressing your emotions
- write a letter to your child
telling them how much you love them
- work on or look at your child's
Lifebook
- plan a family outing
- sponsor an orphan in your child's
birth-country
- start an adoption ministry at
your church
- have a fundraiser/garage sale/bake-off/silent
auction at church... to benefit your child's orphanage/adoption expenses
- have siblings in the home write
about "what adoption means to them"
- look into culture camps and homeland
tours for your family
- learn something fun about your
child's birth-country or birth-culture
- go out to eat or cook ethnic
food
- make a tradition of having a
family photo taken every November ... then send it out with Christmas cards!
- write a letter/story to your
local newspaper educating about adoption
- pray for birth/first families,
foster families, orphanage caretakers, adoptive families, and orphaned
children around the world ... that they may celebrate the Blessings of
adoption too
CELEBRATE
ADOPTION
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
