Becoming involved in Adoption awareness month by Devin Bird

November is National Adoption Awareness Month! Now many of you reading this are aware of the countless, precious benefits of adoption, but most in our communities are not. My wife and I recently adopted and are very comfortable telling our adoption story to friends and small groups, but are a bit intimidated by speaking to say an auditorium full of high school kids about adoption. Isn’t there a happy medium? You know, a way to educate our broader communities about adoption without putting ourselves out in front of so many people. From exploring different websites and talking with friends, here is a list of some ideas we all can do to help share the amazing stories, blessings and the amazing positive impacts of adoption of the adopted children, birthparents and adoptive families (the order here goes from activities that put you least out in front of others, to activities that put you most front in center with a group):

· Show appreciation to Adoption and foster care professionals (both those who may have been involved in your adoption story as well as other front-line adoption professionals
· Ask your local library to spotlight adoption related books at the entrance to the library
· Write about adoption on your Personal Blog, on Facebook, etc. You will be amazed at how easy this is and at how many positive, delightful responses you will receive
· Encourage local schools to speak to their students about adoption (you don’t have to do the speaking, just reach out to the local schools to remind them that it is National Adoption Awareness Month and encourage them to have teachers or someone address the topic this month
· Ask your employer if you can post an article or flyer on your companies intranet or in the company breakroom
· Talk to your children and other family members about adoption. Share your adoption experience with them (or if you don’t have a personal adoption experience, invite a friend to share theirs)
· Find out about local Adoption Awareness activities for this month and notify friends and family, etc about them (we invited friends to an adoption conference to help them learn more about the experiences we would be going through as adoptive parents and they had an amazing experience and came away with a much greater appreciation for adoption)
· Recommend an adoption book to be read as part of your book club this month
Invite others to attend National Adoption Day Ceremonies/Activities on November 20th
· Write an article to a local newspaper sharing your experiences and some of the facts about adoption
· Wear a shirt with a pithy statement about adoption (e.g. adoption . . . its all about love; or adoption is the new pregnant, etc)
· Speak to a local church group about adoption and its benefits, and how they can get involved
· If you are comfortable, offer to speak to students at your local school or other organization about Adoption
· Host your own adoption awareness activity (bake sale at grocery store, movie night at your house, car wash (in areas where it is still warm, etc.)

And remember, as November passes, some of the greatest work we can do is to be mindful of those children still waiting to be adopted and the amazing families who participate in foster care programs and provide Christmas gifts and financial donations to organizations that work tirelessly on behalf of these precious children.

(some of the websites that helped to formulate these ideas include: adoption.com; childwelfare.gov