Golf and Heroes of Adoption

Golf! Golf! It’s time for golf! For 15 years The Wendy’s Charity Golf classic has raised over $1.3 million for adoption programs in Michigan and northern Ohio with the help of local heroes.  One of those programs includes Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, a special program created by The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.  Here a quick snip-it of the golf outing…

The Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, MI hosts the Wendy’s Charity Golf Classic every year.  It consists of LPGA pro-am woman professionals from the Legends Tour.  They team up with area businesses and sponsors for supporting Wendy’s Wonderful Kids.  It’s a two-day event featuring an 18-hole professional shoot out and an 18-hole pro-am scramble.  Organizers planned the evening pairings party, which takes place between events, with a different theme each year. (This year, the theme was superheroes, which was so much fun!) Each year, the pairings party includes a live and silent auction.

St. Vincent Catholic Charities has the pleasure of being one of the many private organizations to have the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program.  Our program helps older children in foster care find permanent and loving homes.  We believe that “unadoptable is unacceptable” and as recruiters it is our job to spread our mission far and wide.

Golf Pairings Party

I was so excited that we chose superheroes as this year’s theme because ALL of our kids have special superpowers.  During our parings party, I had the opportunity to share with our guests an example of why we believe “unadoptable is unacceptable.”  To make a long story short, my oldest youth Tre’Vone (18 years old by the way!) said “Ms. Whitney, my family is out there…they just haven’t found me yet.”  Isn’t this statement powerful?! I will never forget his words and the look of hope on his face.  This young man gave me strength and increased my faith in believing that his family was out there and he was right!

Currently, Tre’Vone lives in a loving home and loves every moment.  The point of story is that many people could/would consider Tre’Vone as “unadoptable” because of his age, but as we see here that is a myth.  People do adopt older youth! I felt honored to share his story that Sunday night and to tell our guests that my superhero rejuvenated my faith and strength to continue serving God’s children. I could talk more about Tre’Vone’s story, but that will be for another time. Make sure you
stay tuned! Be blessed!

— Whitney Banks, MSW, Adoption Recruiter