National Adoption Month – Food by Wendy’s, Underwear by Jockey and a Speech or Two

I did a quick search on twitter this afternoon for something called the NaNoWriMo because there was so much chatter on the topic and I found out that this is a rally call for National Novel Writing Month. This is, for various reasons, not something I will partake in. I have a bit of trouble with the let’s write as fast as we can just to spit a novel out school of writing. Call me uncool. Don’t care. There is also a NABOPOMO in reaction to this which is national blog posting month. Closer to my heart is what I am now dubbing NaNoAdMo. See November also is National Adoption Month. And that’s a cause I can get behind in more ways than one. I am an adoptive parent to two wonderful little girls and I speak frequently about adoption, conducting workshops and generating publicity for adoption issues. I run a soon to be non-profit devoted to helping adoptive families flourish even during the rough times. I often write about adoption issues as well in various magazines throughout Canada. So here’s what I propose for this month. There are a lot of ways people can back adoption or support adoptive families. Some of them involve voting with your pocketbook. Eat or buy products that come from companies that back adoption. Wendy’s franchises throughout North America support adoption as a result of the Dave Thomas Foundation. Their founder Dave Thomas was adopted himself and he early on recognized that more funding was needed to find children families and to help them remain in forever homes. Wendy’s Wonderful Kids is a great resource and photolisting matching children with families. Jockey International’s Debra Waller, also an adoptee, has stepped up funding valuable post-adoption support programs. So buy your underwear and other clothing items here. This month I will be speaking as often as I am able to as many groups as I can about the importance of adoption and the realities as well. Some of you may choose to donate an adoption book or two to your library or to your school. One year I spoke to my daughter’s class about adoption. Call your local Children’s Aid Society and find out if they need volunteers, donations or foster parents. Ask them about adoption. Ask an adoptive parent about adoption. Get the facts from the people who know so you too can make a difference in the life of a waiting child. There are children of all ages waiting for homes, so if you’ve always thought about it but didn’t really think you could what are you waiting for?