Every Saturday before Thanksgiving, National Adoption Day is celebrated through various events in the country - and in the region. WMRA’s Marguerite Gallorini has this preview.
The Foster Care Adoption Awareness Coalition will honor several families on Saturday at 11.30 at Blue Ridge Community Church in Barboursville.
MARNIE ALLEN: All of these families have adopted out of the foster care system.
Marnie Allen is the Family Support, Training, & Recruitment Specialist at Community Attention Foster Families, an organization part of the coalition. They have been providing foster care services in the area since 1976. Over the years, Allen says they have seen a sort of philosophical evolution in their approach to foster care.
ALLEN: We are working really hard on facilitating continued relationships with birth families, even when children are adopted. We don't want to create more loss for the children.
She says it helps the children understand that even though their birth families don't have the ability to meet their needs, it does not mean they stopped loving them.
ALLEN: It's great for the kids.
Saturday's event is also a way to remind the general population of the continued importance of the issue.
Besides the event in Barboursville, in Charlottesville, Trinity Presbyterian Church has an Adoption and Foster Care Ministry open to anyone who has adopted, fostered, or is interested in learning about the process. They are hosting a lunch on Sunday at 12:45.