National Adoption Day Families
Five-town parade includes superheroes, gift baskets and more
A recent Friday morning had special meaning to five Union County foster youth. celebrating an end to living in foster care as adoptions into their forever families became finalized. Union County’s Family Court celebrated National Adoption Day on Friday, Nov. 20, ahead of the national Saturday Nov. 21 festivities, as five youth ranging from two to 11 years old, along with their foster families, met on Zoom with Judges Marc R. Brown and James Hely to make official what each already felt – they were home.
Although COVID-19 required the day be different than prior years, the excitement was as palpable as ever. A car parade included judiciary staff, CASA of Union County staff and interns, fire trucks, police cars and a band of superheroes from Heroes 4 Heroes, a volunteer organization of corrections officers that don superhero costumes and visit children facing adversities. The parade included stops at each adoptive home – Cranford, Elizabeth, Linden, Newark and Union – with sirens blaring, horns honking and rounds of applause.
Each family received a gift basket from CASA of Union County, with collaboration from David Brearley Middle and High School, Live or Tie Dye, Two Park Princesses, Kappa Alpha Theta of Westfield, Division of Child Protection and Permanency and Catholic Charities, Girl Scout Troop 40042 of Cranford, and Scotch Plains Girl Scout Lauren Cunningham, Union County Bar Association, and many generous community members who heeded the call for donations. Each family fun-themed basket contained board and card games, puzzles, fleece blankets, teddy bear for each adoptee, themed picture frame for the first official family photo, jars of popping corn, movie candy, Delice Macarons, ShopRite and WalMart gift cards and a welcome mat declaring, “There’s No Place Like Home.” Adoptees and siblings received tie-dye sweatshirts from Live or Tie Dye and books handpicked by Kappa Alpha Theta’s Westfield chapter. At each parade stop, Gretchen Boger-O’Bryan, Development and Communications Manager at CASA of Union County, took photographs of each family as they emerged from their homes and were greeted by superheroes, the symphony of honking horns and applause, and received balloon bouquets from A Birthday Wish. A hot breakfast – sponsored by Union County Surrogate James LaCorte – was delivered to each family by DCPP staff and Cranford resident Robin Johnstone.
Adoption Day began 20 years ago when a coalition of The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, Alliance for Children’s Rights and Children’s Action Network encouraged nine cities to open courts the Saturday before Thanksgiving to allow adoptions to be finalized and celebrated. Today, more than 120,000 nationwide need a permanent home, with an average wait in foster care of four years. Each year, 23,000 youth age out of the system without a family or safety net in place.
About CASA of Union County
Since 2005, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Union County has been recruiting, training, supervising and supporting community volunteers to advocate for abused, neglected and abandoned children placed in foster homes or residential facilities. CASA volunteers ensure children’s best interests remain the priority while working toward establishing a safe, stable and permanent home for each child served.
For details on CASA of Union County and becoming an advocate for a foster youth, contact Walia at wworrill@casaofunioncounty.org or log on to www.casaofunioncounty.org.
