New Families, New Beginnings: Mecklenburg County to Celebrate National Adoption Day

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A child's life is a story just beginning, and you can help write a happy ending. The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners has proclaimed November as National Adoption Awareness Month. 

This week, children who have been adopted in the past year and their families will be celebrated on National Adoption Day. 

N.C. Courts will recognize a total 34 youth who have received decrees between October 2022 and October 2023, all of which were adopted through Mecklenburg County’s Child, Family, and Adult Services’ Youth and Family Services division. Three of these children are 12 years of age or older. 

The event will feature a pep rally style celebration with special appearances by North Carolina Panther cheerleaders, Sir Purr, MecklenBear, CHUBBY the Bear, Chester of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Smitty the Bull of Johnson C. Smith University, and superheroes from DC and Marvel comics. District Court Judge C. Renee Little will preside over the program. After the pep-rally ceremony, the families will move outdoors to enjoy carnival games, activities, and treats to commemorate the day. 

Since 2000, National Adoption Day has been celebrated by more than 400 communities across the nation on or around the Saturday before Thanksgiving to finalize and celebrate adoptions from foster care. National Adoption Day is particularly focused on the more than 113,000 children in the United States that are waiting in foster care for an adoptive family. The average wait for a child in foster care to be adopted is nearly three years. More than 20,000 children age out of the foster care system every year with no family or permanent home.  

Mecklenburg County is a cosponsor of this year’s Adoption Day celebration. With more than 440 children in custody, Mecklenburg County is always recruiting for loving families to provide a permanent home for these children. To learn more about fostering or adopting a child, click here or call 704-336-KIDS (5437).  

Additional sponsors are the 26th Judicial District Guardian ad Litem Program, and the Trial Court Administrator’s Office-District 26. Special thanks to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, Mecklenburg Guardian ad Litem Advocacy Foundation, LB&B Associates, Kappa Alpha Theta-UNC Charlotte, Be Your Own Hero, Congregations for Kids, FunOHCakes, The Charlotte Hornets, Johnson C. Smith University, and the Carolina Panthers.