How are you celebrating???

November is National Adoption Awareness Month so the question is - How are you getting the word out???

History:
The first major effort to promote awareness of the need for adoptive families for children in the foster care system occurred in Massachusetts. In 1976, then-Governor Mike Dukakis proclaimed Adoption Week and the idea grew in popularity and spread throughout the nation. President Gerald Ford made the first National Adoption Week proclamation, and in 1990, the week was expanded to a month due to the number of states participating and the number of events.


Want a month full of ideas: http://www.adopting.org/adoptions/adoption-month-calendar-an-activity-every-day.html

One last shout out!

Bella Adoption Foundation just wanted to send out one last thank you to our 2009 Chosen One Run Business Sponsors - without your support and contributions the event would have been impossible.

If you would like information regarding any of these sponsors please click on their name to link to their website or contact Bella Adoption Foundation at bellaadopt@gmail.com (not all sponsors have websites).


Autumn Moon
Beak Design Studio
Busby Hardware & Furniture
CR Taping & Texturing
Custom Retaining Walls & Landscaping, Inc.
Lodermeier's Inc
Mary Kay - Jennifer Marquardt
Pampered Chef - Holly Thumann
Schumacher Excavating
State Farm Insurance - Lyle Wendroth
Telemark Tech
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Tristan Publishing
Wedge Lumber
White Rock Bank
Wild Tree - Kimberly Buck

National Adoption Day

National Adoption Day is November 21, 2009

National Adoption Day started small in the year 2000, with events in nine cities. Over the years, it grew rapidly, until by 2006, more than 300 events were held in all 50 states the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. A total of 26,000 children have been adopted from U.S. foster care at National Adoption Day celebrations, and millions of Americans have been touched through local and national media coverage.

The success of National Adoption Day is a result of the hard work of local event planners, the generosity of national and local supporters, the promotion of collaborating organizations, the participation of government representatives and the attention of the media. Congratulations to each of you for making a difference in the lives of children.

Spring 2010

Bella Adoption Foundation is busy planning our next fundraising event which will be an Adoption Treasure Sale in the spring of 2010. This will be a treasure and bake sale and we are currently accepting treasures! Please hold off on the baking until closer to the event :)

Before going to Salvation Army or Goodwill with your household goods and clothing please consider donating to Bella Adoption Foundation. Funds raised through Bella will be given back to Minnesota families working through the adoption process and with one fundraiser under our belt it is time to move to the next so we can get our grants moving!!! If you have any questions please contact the foundation at bellaadopt@gmail.com

Donation Drop: Autumn Moon 345 S Main St., Zumbrota, MN 55992

(please contact us if additional drop options are needed)

Run Results

We were HOPING for 100 participants and ended up with closer to 130!!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And now for the results:



1st Place Overall: Shawn Van Sluys: 20:15

Men Top Finishes
1: Shawn Van Sluys
2. Wayne Dickie
3. Russell Kidd
4. Chad Otterness
5. Lance Groth


Women Top Finishes
1. Monica Nigon
2. Summer Groth
3. Trystan Hansen
4. Jenny O'Connor
5. Allie Volcheck

Age Group Winners
0-17
M: Iaasc Kidd
W: Monica Nigon

18-29
M: Lance Groth
W: Summer Groth

30-39
M: Shawn Van Sluys
W: Jenny O'Connor

40-49
M: Wayne Dickie
W: Becky Kidd

50-50
M: Jeff Millen
F: Connie Wendt

Running Order - Great Job Everyone

5K Results:

1. Shawn Van Sluys 20:15
2. Monica Nigon 21:12
3. Wayne Dickie 21:57
4. Russell Kidd 22:32
5. Chad Otterness 23:41
6. Summer Groth 23:59
7. Lance Groth 24:50
8. Isaac Kidd 25:55
9. Trystan Hansen 25:57
10. Jeff Millen 26:22
11. Michael Horsman 26:54
12. Jenny O'Connor 27:09
13. Andrew Krause 27:30
14. Kyle Haack 27:33
15. Allie Volcheck 27:37
16. Jerry Volcheck 27:40
17. Sherry Sonnenberg 27:51
18. Becky Klier 27:52
19. Becky Kidd 27:53
20. Eric Oppegard 28:02
21. Jill Eggerichs 28:23
22. David Zimmerman 28:30
23. Jeff Smith 28:30
24: Hiromi Walleser 28:42
25: Elizabeth Quast 28:58
26: Connie Wendt 29:22
27: Kris Oppegard 29:30
28: Beth Napton 29:30
29: John Mann 29:35
30: Tom Barrett 29:42
31: Wendy Haack 29:50
32: Yoaish Vwdva 30:40
33: Phil Lermon 31:06
34: Megan Sandman 31:07
35: Jim Wendt 31:12
36: Ravi Delehanty 31:15
37: Laurie Brengman 31:55
38: Emily Frank 32:07
39: Ellie Bungum 34:08
40: Brandon Bungum 34:11
41: Chris Klepper 34:33
42: Alaina Johnson 34:51
43: Heidi Burdick 34:58
44: Sara Mooney 35:16
45: Rebecca Bedhuhn 38:07
46: Dhanya Delehanty 38:48
47: Maggie Eggerichs 40:31
48: Beth Carlson 40:38
49: Cindy Lien 42:05
50: Ethan Hanten 43:06
Diane Mann 43:07
Jennifer Ferguson 43:38
Shyamal Bhat 43:52
Jennifer Pttman 46:28
Shawna O'Reilly 46:28
Heather Hauser 47:40
Cherise Chamberlain 48:14
Shari Chamberlain 48:14
Karla Angrimson 48:55
Emma Hanten 48:58
Mark Delehanty 49:03
Martha Bouman 49:11
Carol Schumacher 49:24
Anita Otterness 49:24
Eve Simon & Tony Simon 53
Anne Winfrey & Jennifer Granloff 54
Dorinda Liese, Jennifer Skalsky, Nicole Brueck, 55
Grant Winfrey & Ed Otterness 57
Anina Richeter, Julie Bauch, Debra Bauch, Linda Smith 58
Bonnie Luhman, Karla Thermos, Lisa Miller, Josslyn Lohmann 59

We also had a large number of 1 mile fun run/walk participants to give a big shout out to and thank you for participating!!!!

Posters for the Run

Stories are being put together for Saturday's event! Want to see them up close? You'll have to stop down then to the Zumbrota Fire Hall between 5pm and 9pm!!!

Directions on the right.

Saturday Event

Reminder - The big event is this Saturday!!!

Please note that you do NOT have to participate in the Run/Walk to join us for the event. We will have food and games for all during/after the event for families/individuals to participate in.

Registration and Check-in will begin at 5pm and wrap up at 5:45pm. If you have not registered that is okay you can do that on Saturday.

Run/Walk will start promptly at 6pm.

Poster Boards for the Run

We are still looking for more adoption stories to share at our upcoming event if you or someone you know would like to share. We are looking for standard poster board size (roughly 21x27) any color that tells your story/journey.

What to include (does not need to follow exactly - this is to get you started)

For Parents:

* Why did you choose to adopt (does not need to be super specific - "We always wanted a family and adoption was our option"

*When did you begin the process

*When did you finalize

*If you have not finalized - where are you in the process or do you have a target date

*What was great obstacle(s) and how did you overcome it (them)

*What's next

*Advice

*Rewards

For Children (Adults) who were chosen

Setting a guideline for this group is a bit harder because every story is so different and emotions tend to be different for everyone. The goal is to show the beauty of adoption from both the parents and the children touched by adoption.

To quote a good friend "for me, this is something I am willing to share because I am not ashamed of being adopted. I am proud and want people to understand what an awesome thing it is."

If you have made contact with your birth parents you can certainly include this information and any feelings associated with it; "in my situation I have met them and it just made me MORE thankful rather than hurt or disappointed..."

If you are willing to do a poster and share your story please contact the foundation via email at

BellaAdopt@gmail.com

If you have questions/concerns please do not hesitate to contact us via email

Congratulations!!!!

Congratulations Dirks family on your safe arrival home with your new little boy!