Adoption Celebration set in Fargo

“Every Stitch Tells a Story” is this year’s theme for the 2010 Adoption Celebration on Saturday, Nov. 6, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Fargo. The event honors families formed through adoption, birth parents and advocates, as well as the children in North Dakota’s foster care system who are waiting to be adopted.

The Adoption Celebration will be held from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in the church located at 1710 S. Fifth St. There will be a formal program at 1:30 p.m. with remarks and individual and family recognition awards. Valley News Live Chief Meteorologist Hutch Johnson will serve as emcee of the program. The public is invited to attend and join the celebration. Organizers have planned children’s activities, and refreshments will also be served.

“Every child in North Dakota deserves a permanent, loving family and home,” said Carol K. Olson, executive director of the North Dakota Department of Human Services. “It is an inspiration to see the happiness brought to families because of an adoption.”

This celebration is a joint effort between the state Department of Human Services and licensed child placing agencies. They include: Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota, The Village Family Service Center, Catholic Charities North Dakota, Christian Family Life Services, God’s Children Adoption Agency Inc., Permanent Family Resource Center, LDS Family Services, All About U Adoptions, Adults Adopting Special Kids and PATH North Dakota.

During the program, organizers will present numerous awards honoring families and individuals who have made a difference in the lives of children through adoption.

Two couples from Dickinson and Rolla will receive the 2010 North Dakota Foster Care Adoptive Family Award.

Recipients of the Youth Excellence Award are brothers from the Belcourt area who were adopted by a foster family.

The Adoption Triad Award, which honors individuals involved in an open adoption, will be presented to a Grand Forks couple and a birth mother.

A Fargo couple will be honored with the Multicultural Family Award for their efforts to nurture the cultural heritage of their three children adopted from China.

The Adoption Advocate Award will be given to three Fargo individuals, and one Minot individual for their dedicated work on behalf of children and families.

In North Dakota, 11 children in foster care are now waiting to be adopted and don’t have an identified adoptive family; they range in age from 4 to 16.

Last year, ­­­267 adoptions took place in North Dakota. Of the adopted children, 98 had been in foster care prior to adoption; 12 were from foreign countries; 42 infants were voluntarily relinquished for adoption to a private licensed child placing agency; and 115 were adopted by their stepparents.

For adoption information, contact the North Dakota Department of Human Services’ Children and Family Services Division at 701-328-2316, 1-800-245-3736, or dhscfs@nd.gov, or go online to http://www.nd.gov/dhs/ services/childfamily/adoption

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