Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Program Reaches Major
Milestone of 500th Adoption
Child-focused adoption recruitment program makes impact for waiting children
July marks a momentous milestone for the signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program – it’s 500th adoption.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids combines the fundraising strengths of Wendy's restaurants and its customers, aggressive grants management of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the talent of experienced adoption recruiters throughout the nation and Canada to move children from foster care into permanent, loving adoptive homes.
Through customer donations dropped in the now-familiar canisters at Wendy’s restaurants and support from other partners, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption raises considerable funds for the program. With the proceeds, the Foundation awards grants to local adoption organizations to hire recruiters to execute aggressive child-focused recruitment programs targeted exclusively on placing foster care children with adoptive families.
In four years, the
Wendy's Wonderful Kids program has grown from seven to 119 recruiters throughout United States, the District of Columbia and Canada. To date, the program has helped more than 3,558 children—identifying parents for 2,300. Of the total number of children the
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program has helped, 456 children have been placed in pre-adoptive homes. On July 1, 500 children had been adopted by their forever families and by mid-July the number of children adopted increased to 547.
“The 500th adoption marks a major milestone for the
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program. Adoption was an important cause for Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas because the need is real and the impact we can have in the life of a child is tremendous,” said Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. “By the end of July, the Foundation expects nearly 600 children will be adopted as a result of
Wendy's Wonderful Kids. That speaks to the momentum recruiters throughout North America have gained and the power of exponential. We anticipate the total number of
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids to be adopted will reach 700 by the end of August. We remain committed to our goal of finding forever families for 10,000 children waiting in foster care to be adopted.”
“On average, a child waits in foster care more than five years. Of equal concern, more than 20% children will age out of the system at 18 without having the love and support of a permanent family,” said Soronen. “We’re extremely grateful to every person who embraces this remarkable effort on behalf of the more than 159,000 foster care children in the United States and Canada who are anxiously awaiting adoption.”
For more information on foster care adoption, call 1-800-ASK-DTFA or visit
www.DaveThomasFoundationforAdoption.org.
About the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption:
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a nonprofit public charity dedicated to dramatically increasing the adoptions of the more than 129,000 children in North America’s foster care systems waiting to be adopted. Created by Wendy’s founder, Dave Thomas, who was adopted as a child, the Foundation leads signature national service programs and works to streamline the adoption process and make adoption more affordable for families. As the only foundation dedicated exclusively to foster care adoption, we are driven by Dave’s simple value: Do what’s best for the child. To learn more about the Foundation’s work, please visit
www.DaveThomasFoundationforAdoption.org.
View the news releases for the following markets:
Atlanta
Cleveland
Columbus
Dallas
Kansas City
Orlando
Philadelphia
Southern New Jersey
Contact:
Rita Soronen
Executive Director
(614) 764-8482