Community Award - The Fu Family
As our staff and board planned out 40th Anniversary Celebration we decided we wanted to bring back our community award and we thought about who we wanted to recognize. we talked about recent volunteers for projects and old staff, but the Fu families kept coming to my mind. And then I got Ellie graduation announcement and I was so honored that during this amazing time of celebration in your own family and community, you thought of us still.
If you adopted after 1994 or have ever been to our office you have likely heard stories of the Fu families or have seen their adorable photos.
This group of nine families were one of the most diverse group of people you could imagine who all traveled to China to adopt their children from the Fu Zhou orphanage at the same time. These were Urban and suburban families, east coast, west coast, Midwest and Hawaii. A single mom, “single” moms, Chinese, white, even a “single” dad. And a few weeks later they returned back to the US as parents and one huge Fu family. Now in those days most families traveled in a group and most families kept in touch for a bit or exchanged a holiday card over the years. But this group of families made a commitment to their connection that was powerful and has truly truly been lifelong.
Over the last 30 years, these families have raised their girls as “Fu sisters” and been together for holidays, vacations, major milestones, a trip back to the Fu Zhou orphanage, graduations, engagements, and marriages, as well as held each other through illnesses and deaths. Big stuff.
The Fu families have been an inspiration to the work we at Adopt and still do - not just watching their amazing daughters grow up, but the community and family that they created with one another. The importance of the connection that we saw between the girls was something you could almost touch. Even when they were teenagers. It inspired us to share their stories with the families behind them, and connect families to each other, and also inspired out staff over the years.
There have been generations of connection that came after them, because of them. The Nepali families, my domestic class of 2002, the current and strong RMI crew. And our new domestic threesome with toddlers.
This need for connection, for community is our need. And it is special. ~ Lisa Clark, LCSW, MSW, Executive Director, Adopt International
** The 2024 National Adoption Month theme is “Adoption Promotes Strong Futures,” a tagline that highlights the success and happiness those who were adopted experience throughout their life. Use the free graphics, meeting background, sample posts, and sample email messages available in the outreach toolkit and show your support for National Adoption Month this November.
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