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Adoptive & Foster Families

Taproot issue 48 - December 2004

Presidents Corner

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you! This has been a very good year for TAP. We have received over 250 calls on our help line and more than 50 emails. This is both good news and bad news. The bad news is that most of the calls came from families that were hurting and needed help. The good news is that we were able to help or direct them to someone that could .

We have also seen a growth in our membership. Families are not only attending the meetings consistently but are also volunteering with fundraisers and other activities.

This is a perfect time to say thank you to all of TAPs members. Whenever I asked you to do anything you were right there. A very special thanks to all of you who sent Jenell a “Get Well” card. She was SO appreciative. She wants you to know that each card was a blessing to her. It seemed as if you knew when she was having a bad day because a card would arrive and lift her spirit.

Thanks to Meg for taking the lead in organizing the clothes give-a-way, and to Michelle, her daughter, and Debbie for working with what seemed like mountains and mountains of clothes during the conference. This was a BIG hit with the families.

The conference went very well. Pierre V. Cooper was our keynote speaker. He spoke about people who influenced his life over the years and encouraged the families that what they were doing with our children was a good thing. It still amazes me how appreciative the families are that come to the conference each year. They love it, and I love them.

We are in the process of putting together our parent group meeting schedule for next year. If you would like us to cover a certain topic please let Andrea or myself know as soon as possible. If you know of any speakers that would come and speak to the group let us know that as well.

The North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC), which is a national organization and our Pennsylvania State Conference will be collaborating together next year for one huge conference in Pittsburgh. The dates are August 3-6, 2005. I know most of you will not be able to afford to attend this conference. The cost of the hotel, childcare, and transportation alone would be too expensive, (I did not included registration because they give out scholarships for that). My hope is to find grants or sponsors that would cover all of the cost of the conference for some of you. Pray that I will be successful.

Our Christmas Party is December 11 th. More information is on the inside.

God bless and have a safe holiday.

Phyllis