Not for profit. Just for kids.
It’s time for… Hopscotch’s 2017 Family Reunion!
Hi, Everyone,
The 2017 Hopscotch Reunion is less than seven weeks away. Now’s the time to register. Your registration form is attached and due, along with the per person reunion fee, on June 25, 2017.
The fee will cover a pizza party and dessert on Friday night, a catered al fresco breakfast at the park on Saturday morning, the rental of a canopy tent/tables and chairs to keep us shaded and comfortable at the reunion hub, as well as arts/crafts/activities for the children. Depending on the number of attendees and final costs, the fee may stretch to cover a Sunday morning breakfast as well.
Hopscotch has generously sponsored a catered dinner at the park for Saturday evening.
Additional activities, such as a visit to the water playground at the park, boat/bike rentals, and a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo or other local attractions will be paid by individual families as they go. If there’s interest to form a group for a Sunday outing, please let me know and I will gladly assist with the planning.
If you are flying to Cincinnati to attend the reunion, your closest airport is CVG. You can also fly into DAY, SDF or IND.
Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions,
Viviane
Viviane Martini, Family Coordinator and Advocate
Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc
Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Ghana, Guyana, Morocco, Serbia and Ukraine
Pre & Post-Adoption Services available to NY and NC residents
Ph: 336.899.0068
This year’s reunion will be hosted at Winton Woods, Cincinnati, Ohio!
A blog about camping at Winton Woods
2017 Family Reunion Registration Form – Register Now (Word Doc)
While Father Christmas visited all the children of the world, these children may be some of the most beautiful and hope-filled children he visited. We happen to think so. Only, he could not yet bring the gift most wanted by all children… a forever family of their very own.
While many are touched by adoption, it is often forgotten that adopting a child is but only one way to help an orphaned child.
Of equal importance is your willingness to advocate for them by sharing positive adoption information, financially supporting others that are called and prepared to parent a child through adoption or simply by being the friend, neighbor or family member that cheers an adoptive family on in their journey.
Make no mistake about this journey. The journey is difficult and long. The child waiting at the end of the family’s journey is worth every sacrifice necessary to bring them home.
Some of the faces in this video are home already, or soon to be, but most are still waiting.
Thanks for taking a moment to watch this video and share in their joy. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers that they too find their forever families.
YOU wished for gifts this season. Abigail (adopted from an orphanage in Bulgaria) wished for a sister….her friend left behind in Bulgaria. Thanks to Make-A-Wish North Texas for bringing them together again! Story to come! WFAA-TV Demi Lovato you were the second wish!
WITH AN UNPRECENTED WISH, A FAMILY IS MADE COMPLETE
Just in time for the holidays, Make-A-Wish® North Texas makes Abigail’s one true wish come true.
IRVING, TEXAS –– Make-A-Wish® is known for moving mountains to help fulfill the most heartfelt wishes for Wish Kids around the world. For Abigail, this was particularly true. Her wish is the first of its kind for Make-A-Wish and has been nearly two years in the making. It required stars aligning in a profoundly moving and certainly life-altering way.
Abigail was adopted from a Bulgarian orphanage by her parents Dorcas and Tony in 2013. She was 13 at the time and while she was obviously elated to join her new family in the United States, it was also bittersweet as she had to leave Caroline, her roommate and closest friend in the world, behind.
But that was not to be the end of their story. Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis Abigail was granted a wish by Make-A-Wish North Texas. She deliberated only briefly. Would it be a trip to Hollywood or something else…something she had in mind with deep personal meaning? With her parents’ blessing, Abigail wished for them to adopt Caroline, still dreaming of a family. Make-A-Wish North Texas agreed to help facilitate and manage the logistics surrounding this most unusual wish. People around the world got involved to help, including the teams at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth and Hopscotch Adoptions.
Now, just in time for the holidays, Abigail’s wish is coming true. The girls will be reunited, now as sisters. Abigail summed up her feelings when she wrote, “Thank you God for telling me that I needed a sister!”
“How truly wonderful to be able to grant Abigail’s wish and at the same time make dreams come true for Caroline,” said Scotty Landry, President and CEO of Make-A-Wish North Texas. “This unique wish has been life-altering for all involved. We are honored to be able to help bring this family together for the holidays.”
“We were honored when the Grubaugh family chose Hopscotch to help bring their first daughter home from Bulgaria and when we were asked to be their placing agency for their second daughter, we were elated!” said Robin Sizemore, Executive Director of Hopscotch Adoptions,Inc. “We learned later on that their adoption was going to be realized through the support of Make-A-Wish North Texas chapter and that this was the first adoption, much less intercountry adoption, wish ever granted. The Make-A-Wish North Texas chapter is incredibly generous and truly listened to Abigail’s one true wish… to be the sister to her best friend left behind in Bulgaria. We cannot think of a more beautiful wish to be granted. We are ever grateful to everyone that generously supports Make-A-Wish, this is truly one of the most rewarding experiences for everyone involved.”
Update:
On December 21st, the family arrived in Dallas after a very long and exhausting day of travel. As Caroline stepped off the plane, she became a United States citizen and began her new life.
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Facebook:
After two years in the making, Abigail’s wish is now a reality! Click here for photos.
Live from DFW Airport for a heartwarming homecoming! We celebrate Abigail’s wish for her family to adopt her best friend from the same Bulgarian orphanage she was adopted from 3 years ago. Join us in welcoming this new family of 4 home!
Welcome home Abigail and Caroline! We wish everyone a very happy holiday season. We know this will be one to remember for this family!
About Make-A-Wish® North Texas
Make-A-Wish North Texas grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Since our inception in 1982, more than 9,500 wishes have been granted throughout the 161 counties we serve. Our goal is to be a unique part of the treatment process. With doctors providing the medicine, and Make-A-Wish supplying the magic, we strive to create miracles in the lives of some very extraordinary children. For more information on Make-A-Wish North Texas, please visit www.ntx.wish.org.
Creating A Family Podcast: Our guests to talk about sibling adoption are Kimberly Offutt, a social worker at Bethany Christian Services and Erin Q. Nasmyth, a licensed clinical social worker with Hopscotch Adoptions, who has spent spent the last ten years working with families and children in the foster care system, in child mental health, and supporting families in adoption.
