Gladney Blog

Your donation today will help us ensure each child we serve has the care and support they need to thrive. 

Your gift today offers hope and healing for children, families, and birth parents.  I’m inspired by how far Gladney has come in 136 years, thanks to loyal supporters like you. And now we’re expanding our work to meet the needs of our clients, all while staying true to our steadfast belief: every child deserves a loving and caring family. 

I wish we could sit down for a cup of coffee with every supporter and Gladney family, so I could share all the exciting things happening at Gladney. I’d like to use this blog to update you on how our work is expanding.  

Hayley and John felt led to adopt siblings, under the age of twelve, from foster care.  They weren’t swayed in their efforts, even after experiencing some challenges.  While attending an event to meet children who were available for adoption, Hayley and John noticed a tall teenage girl with bright green hair approach a boy who sat all alone on the playground.  

Sunday, November 7^th marked the 150^th Anniversary of the New York City Marathon. What’s more, there were 11 charity runners representing #TeamGladney on the course and 3 additional supporters who also raised funds as part of #TeamGladney! Our team included adoptive parents, adoptive grandparents, and friends genuinely supporting the mission of adoption! To run the race, it took a great deal of courage and commitment. It took even more dedication and eagerness to advocate and fundraise in support of Gladney’s mission. #TeamGladney went above and beyond, raising nearly $50,000!

With the holidays coming up, we have started to hear from Gladney Friends asking about opportunities to get involved and give back during this season of gratitude, reflection, and service. Thank you for your interest and your desire to make a difference! Wherever you live, here are multiple ways you can join in:

1. Gladney Angel Tree – Each year, we organize our own Angel Tree, in order to provide gifts for some of our expectant mother and birth mother clients and their children (if they have other children they are parenting). The women we provide gifts for are either making an adoption plan for their baby or have already placed a child for adoption through Gladney, and they are in need of a little extra support for their families around the holidays this year, due to financial challenges. Our Angel Tree also provides gifts for our Gladney Home clients, who are teen girls in foster care seeking to be adopted. We need your help to make their holiday wishes come true!
   
   If you are interested in donating gifts, please email mary.ownbey@gladney.org  for more details. You can get information about a specific angel you can shop for, or you can donate gift cards or make an online donation to Gladney, and others will do the shopping for you. You can let us know what works best for you!
   
   Last year, we provided gifts for 60 angels (24 adults and 36 children). Typically, donors spend around $75 - $100 on gifts for each angel. All gifts will need to be delivered/shipped to Gladney by end of day Monday, November 30, 2020. Please do not wrap your gift donations — they will be wrapped by volunteers after we ensure the gifts we have for all of the angels are balanced and sufficiently meet their needs and wants.
2. Notes of Encouragement – These are appreciated during the holidays and any time of year! You can write messages for teen girls in foster care who are clients in the Gladney Home, prospective adoptive families, Gladney caseworkers, or Child Protective Services caseworkers. Read the instructions and get started.
3. Minted Holiday Cards and Gifts – Save 20% while creating your holiday cards and shopping personalized gifts, and Minted will donate 15% to Gladney! Use the promo code: FUNDRAISEGLADNEY. Start shopping on Minted. This promo code is valid through December 31, 2020. Send us one of your cards, so we can share in your holiday joy!
4. Adoption.com Heart Shop – Share your heart for adoption while you wear it! You can purchase Adoption Rocks Your Home t-shirts, sweatshirts, and tote bags as gifts for yourself and others. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Gladney. Browse the merch. Pre-orders will be taken through November 22, 2020, and orders will be fulfilled and shipped out by December 1, 2020.
5. AmazonSmile Shopping – Support Gladney as you shop for holiday gifts! Choose Gladney as the charity for your AmazonSmile account, login to AmazonSmile instead of Amazon when you shop, and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to Gladney. You can find Gladney using our EIN #: 75-0917409. This is an ongoing give back opportunity throughout the year. Get started!
6. AmazonSmile Charity Lists – Throughout the year, we maintain lists of needs for clothing, personal care items, and recreation items. We would appreciate you helping with these ongoing, tangible needs, during the holidays and any time of year.
   • Gladney Home clients (teen girls in foster care): bit.ly/GladneyHomeList 
   • Expectant mother clients: bit.ly/GladneyExpectantMomsList
7. Gift Cards – One goal of our Gladney Home program is to provide the teen girl clients in foster care with normalcy, and some of the ways we do that are through group meals, activities, and shopping trips in the community. These are an ongoing need throughout the year.
   • WalMart, Target, Old Navy
   • Rosa’s Café, Panera Bread, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, La Madeleine, Torchy’s Tacos, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Chick-fil-a, Chipotle, Zoe’s Kitchen, Blaze Pizza
   • Tickets/Passes to Dallas/Fort Worth area events (zoos, museums, sporting events, etc.): Please email us to confirm dates and schedules before purchase.
   • Mail gift cards to: Gladney Center for Adoption, 6300 John Ryan Drive, Fort Worth, TX, 76132.
8. Financial Donations – You can support Gladney’s mission of Creating Bright Futures Through Adoption by making a gift online to our year-end giving appeal. Family is, and always will be, essential. We believe every child deserves a loving and caring family, and Gladney Friends are essential to our mission – we cannot do what we do and serve who we serve without you!

If you know of a company, faith community, social group, family members, or personal friends who are looking for ways to give back during the holiday season, please let them know about these opportunities. We appreciate you being Adoption Advocates and sharing about Gladney where you live! Thank you for not only having a compassionate heart, but for putting your compassion into action. We and the clients we serve are grateful. Happy Holidays!