Event Date: November 20, 2010

When you think back on your childhood, what memories do you have? Playing catch with dad, cooking with mom, game night with the entire family, vacations, birthdays? Many of us have great memories growing up, and as I write this I remember many fond memories from my childhood.

My mom was both mom and dad to me, and she did a stellar job raising me and giving me a happy, healthy home. Besides being the inspiration behind 20 Causes, 20 Days, she was also the best mom a guy could have.

I am grateful for her and her hard work, and after my experience today I am grateful for the great people at Lilliput Children’s Services who work hard to help place foster children into loving homes and give them the chance to create great memories.

There are currently 500,000 children in the United States that are in the foster care system, awaiting a home. 60,000 in California, and 3,400 here in the Sacramento community.

Founded in 1980, Lilliput prides itself in being Northern California’s domestic adoption specialists. They complete the most private foster adoptions in the state, numbering around 500 per year.

They assist in all facets of adoption from start to finish. From adopting a child, kinship care, foster care, training and consultation, and much more. To say that Lilliput is a full-service adoption agency is an understatement.

Today, we would be helping Lilliput with National Adoption Day, a special event in partnership with other local adoption services at the State Capitol.

It was a cold, windy, rainy day, but that didn’t stop six people from joining me in volunteering to help with the event. I met up with Will, Christina, Robert, Keri, Megan, and Amanda on the steps of the Capitol. We were then introduced to Lilliput’s Community Relations Coordinator Elizabeth Morabito.

We met at 2pm, but National Adoption Day had started at 6am with a pancake breakfast. Elizabeth said they had prepared enough for 150 people, and that they had finished everything. By the time we arrived, the wind and weather had dwindled the crowd to maybe a couple dozen, but nonetheless everyone present understood the importance of National Adoption Day.

The volunteers and I emptied the garbage cans around the area. Which in theory is a relatively easy task, but today it was a bit more difficult, considering the strong wind gusts which threatened to take the tents with them. Definitely a team task! But in this case, we conquered Mother Nature.

Next, a couple of volunteers and me joined in participating in the event itself. Today, starting at 6am, volunteers would stand at the podium and read the names of children who continue to wait to be adopted. By the time we had arrived, 20,000 names had been read aloud by volunteers young and old.

Each speaker would read about three pages of children’s names, along with their age. The ages on my list ranged from 2 to 17, as I imagine was standard for each list.

It was a somber moment as I exited the stage and the next speaker began reading. All these names are significant as each one represents a child waiting for a loving home.

Both Keri and Christina read names aloud too. After we all spoke, a “Riverdance” style dance troupe in town from San Diego for a local competition performed an impromptu show for attendees, which helped provide a more joyous setting to the otherwise calm and solemn event.

Other speakers included a woman whose daughter gave a child up for adoption, a 17 year old young man who was an adoptee, and other people affiliated with the adoption system somehow.

One of the more notable speakers was a Bay Area doctor, along with his son David who was celebrating his birthday on this day. After he spoke, we all sang happy birthday to David. It was a touching moment when David approached me after and gave me a big hug. What a special moment that David, who lives with Down Syndrome, would spend his 22^nd birthday helping raise awareness of such a great cause at National Adoption Day.

Today was a good event and it helped open up my eyes to the great service Lilliput Children’s Services provides.

Another cool part of today was the fact that Christina and Robert, who are married, are also in the process of considering an adoption. They volunteered because it provided a great way to obtain more information about opportunities to add to their family.

There are always volunteering opportunities available with Lilliput, from mentoring, tutoring, supporting family members, and working in the kinship offices. Volunteers will need to fill out associated paperwork, and based on the nature of the business, for some volunteer opportunities fingerprints are needed.

Learn more information about volunteer opportunities and contact Lilliput on their website. They have offices throughout Northern California and many different opportunities to get involved. Contact information is below.

Despite the elements, I think the volunteers had a good time on this day. It was great to see everyone willing and able to help with anything Elizabeth and the rest of the staff needed of us.

You have an opportunity to help thousands of children find the loving homes they deserve. Please get involved with Lilliput Children’s Services and help them place children into great environments to help them create great lifelong memories.

**Special thanks go out to my friend Scott Moak, who not only set up this opportunity for 20 Causes, 20 Days, but provided Sacramento Kings tickets to each of the volunteers.

Lilliput Children’s Services
www.lilliput.org
800.325.5359
Sacramento office: 916.923.5444

Please leave comment below!
Thank you,
Erik