It Takes a Team!

Photo Credit: Cory Popp

An extra special thank you to the Jaws Youth Playbook for sponsoring our adoption match partyon June 23rd! 37 children and 25 families came out to the Riversharks’ Campbell Field in Camden, NJ, in hopes that they would make a connection.

[Side note: For those of you who don’t know what an adoption match party is, it’s an event that brings youth in foster care together with adults who have been approved to adopt for a day of getting to know one another. Match parties are a rare opportunity for the children and adults to interact one-on-one, and we often see “magic” happen in the form of a connection that may lead to adoption.]

Saturday’s match party included a fun day of healthy, sports-themed activities in line with the Jaws Youth Playbook’s mission to improve the overall health and wellness of at-risk youth, primarily in the Greater Philadelphia region. The kids enjoyed water ball tosses, relay races and a baseball clinic, and the adults kept up as best as they could too!

By the end of the day we had an impressive 71 inquiries from adults who were interested in learning more about the youth. It is our hope that many of these initial inquiries will progress to permanent adoptions and families!

This life-changing work wouldn’t be possible without our supporters, so we want to send out a huge thank you to Ron "Jaws” Jaworski's and the Jaws Youth Playbook, as well as the Riversharks for their incredible support. We’d also like to thank Wawa for sending 15 absolutely amazing volunteers out to help us make this a day the youth and families would never forget!

Hot Match Party With Positive Results!

Think back to your childhood in the summertime! Do you remember hours spent outdoors playing with friends?

That’s just what the Adoption Center’s Camp Match Party was like! We had more than 50 children, ages three to 17 who are waiting for their forever family, and 45 prospective adoptive families enjoy an outing to Tall Pines Day Camp in Williamstown, New Jersey on Saturday, June 26th.
Our wonderful volunteers, most from Wawa, led the children and families around the campgrounds to play a variety of games and go on a hayride. The families got to see the children do what children do best, play! Many of the adults told us they enjoyed the activities at the campsite and, despite the heat, most of the adults were eager participants in the games with the children. The children and families all had a great time.
They also shared lunchtime together and got a chance to sit in the shade of the pavilions to talk and get to know one another. Families had opportunities to talk privately with the children’s social workers to express their interest and learn more about specific children. Ice cream and ices for dessert topped off a great summer day outdoors for everyone!
There were over 150 inquiries on the children from the families in attendance and we are hopeful for many potential matches that will become adoptive placements!

Celebration of Family Wrap-up

Last night we had our annual gala. It was a fun night resulting from the culmination of much work on behalf of staff, board members, sponsors and volunteers. To everyone that supported yesterday evening’s Celebration of Family, we thank you!

The Please Touch Museum served as a spectacular backdrop for over 200 guests as we honored Rev. Dr. Lorina Marshall-Blake for her commitment to the way children grow up. Entertainment Chair Melissa Codkind along with her daughter Rachel and the Junior Friends of Adoption helped to ensure a fun event. In particular, Rachel’s personal video presentation truly captured the spirit of the Adoption Center and our work on behalf of vulnerable children. Our Master of Ceremonies Stan Hochman and fellow auctioneer Steve Highsmith encouraged lively bidding for one-of-a-kind items, secured by Auction Chair Bob Bechtold.

Celebration Chairman Rich Macha & Board President Bruce Davis paid tribute to our generous sponsors including:

Wendy’s – Lead Sponsor
PECO
Independence Blue Cross
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Sunoco Logistics
Cozen O’Connor
Margaret Jacobs Charitable Trust
Wawa

Thanks again to everyone and we'll be posting pictures soon!

Celebration of Family 2009

Last night was our Celebration of Family gala at the Crystal Tea Room. The party was well-attended and it looked like a good time was had by all. Ron and Suzanne Naples were our honorees. And Clarence and Denise McGregor Armbrister were the recipients of our Alison Award. A special touch was having Mayor Michael A. Nutter come out to share a few words about our honorees. We thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule to honor the Naples and the Armbrister's in such a personal way. Vai Sikahema, Steve Highsmith and Stan Hochman did a great job keeping the event moring along.

Again, we'd like to thanks our sponsors: Wendy's, Wawa, Wyeth, Sunoco Logistics, PECO, Independence Blue Cross, Quaker, GreenbergTraurig, Consulting Services of Princeton, Margaret G. Jacobs Charitable Trust. Our volunteers from Independence Blue Cross and Aetna did a fantastic job, thanks to each and every one of you. We also thank all those who donated items for the auctions and all those happy shoppers!

A special thanks to Chris Marrero, our photographer for the evening. He captures special events and specializes in fine art portrait photography. See more of the night's photos on our social network site.

"Gottahava Wawa"

In these times of great economic distress, we would like to salute one of our more generous corporate partners. Wawa, a terrific chain of mid-Atlantic convenience stores, recently contributed $110,000 to the Adoption Center. These funds represented the total dollars contributed by its New Jersey Customers via in-store collections in the 3rd Quarter of 2008.

Many of Wawa’s core values are universal:
Value People
Delight Customers
Embrace Change
Do the Right Thing
Do Things Right
Passion for Winning

In the US at this time, we all need to follow their path and value people, embrace change, do the right thing and do things right. Our country and her people would be so much better for it.

The Adoption Center recognizes Wawa for their generous support and would love to hear more stories of extraordinary giving in these extraordinary times.