Our Mission

About the Foundation

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption-Canada is a nonprofit public charity dedicated exclusively to finding permanent homes for children in Canada’s foster care system who have been waiting the longest. Created by Wendy’s® founder Dave Thomas, who was adopted, the Foundation implements evidence-based, results-driven national service programs, foster care adoption awareness campaigns and innovative grantmaking. Learn more

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Foster Care Adoption

Children enter foster care through no fault of their own; they have been abused, neglected or abandoned. Too many children linger in care for years and age out of the foster care system without an adoptive family — putting them at an elevated risk of negative outcomes, including homelessness, unemployment, early parenting and substance abuse.

There are more than 30,000 children waiting to be adopted from foster care in Canada. It is essential that adoption advocates and professionals work together to maximize every avenue to find permanency and stability for these children, including our older children and youth. As our founder, Dave Thomas, always said,

“These children are not someone else’s responsibility. They are our responsibility.”

Wendy's Wonderful Kids

Through its signature program, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption-Canada provides grants to public and private adoption agencies to hire and train recruiters in our Child-Focused Recruitment Model. Research has shown that the model is up to three times more effective at serving children who have been in foster care the longest, including older youth, sibling groups and children with special needs.

To date, more than 8,000 children in foster care across North America have been adopted through Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. Learn more