1.
The tragic death of Chaskah Smith in AZ is the Gabriel Fernandez story in CA and the Zaiden Jovanovich story in KS. We demand the establishment of an independent investigative unit to review every child abuse fatality and near fatality. We must fix this. https://t.co/6ek9yJ5zZd
— Gen Justice (@GenJusticeorg) February 3, 2022
2. Herbie Newell: Olympics put spotlight on Chinese children waiting for adoption
An estimated 60,000 people have traveled from all over the world to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics. China provided as many as 15 inbound flights and 13 outbound flights each day in order to accommodate athletes, staff, media and others trying to get into Beijing.
So why, given all this travel, have 400 families been waiting for two years to complete their adoption of a Chinese child?
Why can 60,000 people travel across the border for sports while hundreds of vulnerable children wait and suffer in silence, barred from meeting their adoptive families?
3. Texas Foster Care Agencies Face Lawsuit Over Bed Shortage
4.
When I was a student at @BrooklynTech_HS, my classmates were racially diverse & we all had to pass the specialized high school test to get in. The answer here is to build more great high schools and ensure more kids are prepared K-8 to meet or exceed the HS standard. @bthsalumni https://t.co/2tmmkXDYGU
— Ian Rowe (@IanVRowe) February 17, 2022
5.
Our website features more than 4,500 kids who are longing for the love and support of a family. Could you be the family they are looking for? Visit https://t.co/NuymkufXHW to learn more about adoption from foster care. pic.twitter.com/en8qAnEgV3
— AdoptUSKids (@AdoptUSKids) February 17, 2022
6. White Castle helps couple adopt daughter from South America
ST. LOUIS – After helping a Washington State couple adopt a 14-year-old girl from South America last year, White Castle has since donated $10,000 to the Dave Thomas Dave Foundation for Adoption.
The adoption organization was founded by Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s. Both fast-food chains, White Castle and Wendy’s, have a long history of supporting local and national causes, according to a press release.
“We’ve always had a great respect for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and its commitment to finding forever homes for children in foster care,” said Jamie Richardson, vice president at White Castle.
“We’re honored to demonstrate our support for this important cause with a financial contribution.”
Jana Cruz won a trip to Belgium in 2019 as part of White Castle’s campaign to promote its breakfast waffles. However, COVID-19 and her work schedule delayed the trip for her and her husband Sergio.
Meanwhile, the couple had begun the process to adopt a girl from Colombia in June 2020 and were planning a trip to Colombia to finalize the adoption. Cruz explained their situation to White Castle and the couple was offered to switch the trip to Belgium with Colombia, according to the press release.
“We are incredibly grateful for what White Castle did to help with our trip to Colombia to complete our adoption,” Jana Cruz said.
“We were having yard sales, selling crafts, and raffling items to help bridge the gap between what we had saved and what we needed. Having this trip paid for was absolutely beyond what we could have imagined.”
In September 2021, along with their four-year-old son Adrian, the Cruz family flew to Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, where they finalized the adoption of 14-year-old Natalie. After weeks of paperwork, securing a passport and visa for Natalie, the family made it home in mid-October, according to the press release.
“When we learned that Jana and Sergio were in the process of adopting their daughter, it was an easy decision to swap the Belgium trip for a trip to Colombia,” Richardson said.
7. Arkansas Boy Donates Mullet Competition Money To Foster Care Organizations
Allan decided to enter an online mullet competition and donate the prize money.
“When I heard there was, like, $2,500 I’m like, ‘I’m just gonna donate it to the foster care if I win,” said Allan.
When asked why he wanted to donate the money to foster care, Allan said, “I was in foster care and I know completely how it feels.”
The boutique, called Blossom, is scheduled to open this month – though it has already started helping families, according to founder Linda Durrence.
Durrence, 51, from Glennville, Georgia, told Fox News Digital that when Blossom opens, it will provide children in need with seven full sets of clothes and shoes for free. Families will be able to visit and get seven new sets of clothes every quarter for seasonal changes, or more frequently if a child has a major size change.
9.
Interested in helping abused & neglected children in the community? Our Virtual Info Sessions are a great 1st step to learn more about becoming a CASA volunteer & advocating for a local child in foster care. Submit the form here to join our next session: https://t.co/Inbp3gigl6 pic.twitter.com/sMOBgR4tls
— CASA for Children (@CASA4Children) February 17, 2022
10. Love Them Both: 8 ways to help a family who is adopting or fostering a child
Some of the suggestions:
Take them a meal.
Have a “Gotcha Day/Baby Shower” for the new child, even if they are not a baby!
Offer to give moms and dads a “night out.”
Surprise a family with some groceries, movie tickets, gift cards, or even a gift basket of yummies.
Listen!
If you are a praying person, pray for adoptive and foster families!
Everyone has a role to play.
11.
Did you know you can check the need for foster families in your county from our home page? We need more foster families. https://t.co/rzzjxTVC0G pic.twitter.com/sQ1HVbg05x
— FaithBridge Foster Care (@FaithBridgeGrp) February 17, 2022
12. This was one of the readings Wednesday when I went to Mass:
A reading from the Letter of Saint James
1:19-27
Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger for anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God. Therefore, put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls.
Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like. But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts; such a one shall be blessed in what he does.
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, his religion is vain. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
The word of the Lord.