NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH

May is set aside as National Foster Care Month honoring the foster parents, families, and those who support children throughout their journey to find a permanent home.

A child’s welfare takes priority every day in the lives of caseworkers, guardians, counselors, advocates, and foster parents. Building meaningful relationships and foundations take time. Every year, National Foster Care Month recognizes the dedicated people who promote compassionate, stable homes for children.

These parents and professionals focus not only on the emotional and physical needs of the children but on their long-term educational goals and overall health. Each step along the way, they are aware of the obstacles each child may have already had to overcome in life. Everyone deserves to be surrounded by the love and support of a family and foster care specialists seek to find the safest environment for every child.

NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH HISTORY

National Foster Care Month is proclaimed annually by the President of the United States.

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HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalFosterCareMonth

Support those who provide care and if you are able, consider being a foster parent. The need is increasing. Use #FosterCareMonth to share on social media.

Visit www.childwelfare.gov to learn more.

NATIONAL SIBLINGS DAY

National Siblings Day (also referred to as Sibling Day) on April 10th each year honors our brothers and sisters. 

Siblings. They are our best friends or our worst enemies. At times, siblings will provide us with our biggest competition, strongest encouragement and remind us of our most embarrassing moments.

Fictional characters describe those siblings best who are both rivals and yet best friends. From The Brady Bunch and the Cosby family to The Simpsons and the Piersons, television siblings tell our stories in humorous and dramatic form. 

However, real-life royal siblings Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret had a different set of rules to follow making their relationship quite different from anything we would call normal. Being a queen will do that. Queen Elizabeth’s grandsons, Princes William and Harry and William’s children, too have royal sibling relationships that engage the world. 

Playing fictional characters who are siblings and being siblings in front of a television audience must have created a different lifestyle for Mary Kate and Ashley Olson. Their older sister is Elizabeth. Another pair of sibling actors is Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty. And don’t forget the exuberant Tia and Tamera Mowry.  There have been plenty of presidents with siblings as well. George W. Bush has five siblings and William Jefferson Clinton has three.

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How many siblings do you have? Are you rivals or do you support each other in all you do?

NATIONAL SIBLINGS DAY HISTORY

In 1995, native New Yorker, Claudia Evart, founded National Siblings Day to honor and celebrate siblings.  After losing her two siblings early in life in separate accidents, she knew how important siblings could be in our lives.

Claudia created the Siblings Day Foundation (SDF), a tax-exempt organization, whose goals included the establishment of the national holiday. Claudia selected April 10th in honor of her late sister, Lisette’s birthday. 

HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalSiblingsDay

  • Celebrate your siblings and the times you’ve had together.
  • Laugh at the awkward and ill-spent time in your youth.
  • Catch up with your sibling(s). Enjoy looking at photos and videos of time spent with your sibling(s).
  • Play a song or two from the 35 Best Sister Songs list.
  • Share photos of you and your siblings.
  • Use #NationalSiblingsDay to post on social media.

WORLD ADOPTION DAY

Every year on November 9th, World Adoption Day encourages adoptees to share their stories. It’s also a day for adoptive parents to connect with others and reflect upon their adoption journey.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are many reasons children are given up for adoption. An unwed mother may feel she is too young to take responsibility for a child. Or, a mother may realize they do not have enough resources to adequately care for a child. Sadly, many children become in need of a home when one or both parents die.

While adoption is a beautiful process, it can also be sad to realize the number of children in need of a home. According to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) more than 150 million children throughout the world are in need of a home. This number includes the nearly half a million children that are in the U.S. foster system.

For couples experiencing the pain of infertility, adoption can be a wonderful way to become parents. However, there are many other kinds of people who adopt children each year. Maybe they simply want to provide a home for a child in need. Or maybe a woman has a medical condition that would make it dangerous to carry a baby. Others adopt because they are single, but still wish to have children.

WORLD ADOPTION DAY HISTORY

Hank Fortener founded World Adoption Day in 2014. Hank had also founded AdoptTogether, an adoption crowdfunding platform. His goal for the day is gathering support for his mission to reduce the number of orphans in the world and provide a family for every child.

HOW TO OBSERVE #WorldAdoptionDay

Each year on this day, those affected by adoption are encouraged to draw a smiley face on their hand and take a photo. To help raise awareness for adoption, they are to share their photo on social media. This is also a great day for both adoptees and adoptive parents to share their unique adoption journeys.

Whether you are affected by adoption or not, you can participate in the following ways:

  • Become an ambassador for this day.
  • Donate to a family and help them fund their adoption.
  • Learn about famous adoptees, such as Babe Ruth, Eleanor Roosevelt, Melissa Gilbert, Steve Jobs, Leo Tolstoy, and Dave Thomas.
  • Watch an adopted-themed movie, like Disney’s Tarzan, Lilo and Stitch, Annie, and Meet the Robinsons.
  • Volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center that supports adoption.

Be sure to spread awareness for this day on social media with #WorldAdoptionDay