Wendy’s Wonderful Kids

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Wendy’s. All opinions are 100% mine.

It seems fitting that November has Thanksgiving and is National Adoption month. Two of my favorite things to celebrate. 

Once adoption has touched your heart you want to share with the world how powerful it is. It changed my family forever and I love talking about it to others because before we became adoptive parents there was so much we didn’t know. 

With more than 130,000 children waiting in North America’s foster care system, it’s something we need to talk about more. These children deserve families. 

I’m not the only one that feels that way.

Wendy’s founder, Dave Thomas, knew first-hand the importance of having a family as he was an adopted child. And that is why Wendy’s passionately supports the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which Dave Thomas founded in 1992. The foundation works to find permanent, loving homes for children in the foster care system.

Dave Thomas believed that children in foster care “aren’t someone else’s responsibility, they are our responsibility.” 

Something that we often take for granted is the simple things families do together that children in foster care would love to have the opportunity to do.

Through November, Wendy’s is showcasing adopted children’s illustrations of a special “family first” moment on their cold beverage and specialty cups, like the one I’m holding above.

The artwork on Wendy’s cups was provided by four selected children who have been adopted through the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Program. The four separate drawings bring to life the power of foster care adoption through a child’s eyes, showing everyday family moments that most of us take for granted, such as a day at the beach. Can you imagine not taking your first trip as a family till you are 11?

I had the pleasure of speaking to Olivia, Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption spokesperson, Wendy’s spokesperson and her mom about why they wanted to be a part of this project.

I had one important question I wanted to ask them. I wanted to know why they wanted to be a part of this project. Their answers really touched me. Olivia’s mom credits The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Program for becoming an adoptive mom and Olivia credits them for helping her find her forever family. 

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption worked with Wendy’s to establish the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Program to focus on children who have been waiting the longest in the foster care system. Through the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Program, special recruiters are hired to work on caseloads of children and give each child as much attention as he or she deserves. These recruiters employ aggressive practices and proven tactics, taking into account the needs of the children they serve, to find the children their forever homes.

Both Olivia and her mom reiterated to me that Olivia’s caseworker was the key to their new family. Without her it wouldn’t have happened. And they know without Wendy’s they wouldn’t have had that caseworker in either of their lives. So to them being a part of this project was way more than just sharing her story. It’s the story of hundreds of thousands of other children waiting in foster care, that could be adopted with the right support.

The support they need to find their forever families is what Wendy’s is offering. Wendy’s commitment to helping children in foster care find their families is why they wanted to share their story because children referred to the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program are up to three times more likely to get adopted.

Through the program, more than 5000 children in foster care have been adopted into permanent, loving homes.

Has adoption touched your life?