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Foster kids, prospective parents meet
By JACKIE RIPLEY
© St. Petersburg Times, TAMPA -- Sitting next to each other as they turned Popsicle sticks into picture frames, 6-year-old Georgie and 7-year-old Shakeem made nearly irresistible bookends. And if that wasn't appealing enough, Georgie had a grin that lit up his face and seemed perfectly timed to the shrug that lifted his shoulders. But the brothers were only two of about 80 children up for adoption at a picnic in Riverview on Saturday, an event aimed at finding homes for foster children. "It's kind of like the prom, or your first dance," said Shawnna Lee, communications director for the Florida Department of Children and Families. "You wonder, "Do I make the first move or do I wait for them to make the first move?' " And so it went, at least for the first hour or so of the semiannual adoption picnic at a park in eastern Hillsborough County as prospective parents mingled with foster children in need of a permanent home. "It's a good chance for children to get to know families," Lee said. But "we try to make it as simple as possible. These kids have had their hearts broken enough times. We don't want them to leave with the feeling that if I don't get adopted I'm not worthy." The picnic, sponsored by DCF, the Adoption Council of Tampa Bay and the Junior League of Tampa, provided an afternoon of games, fun and food. But underneath the festivities was the serious matter of potentially blending families. "We don't have a lot of room but we have a lot of love," said Connie and Scott Yerger, Hillsborough County schoolteachers. "We've been foster parents for a long time but it's hard having them come in and leave. We want them to come in and stay." The Yergers, like many other prospective parents at Saturday's event, were not limiting themselves to just one child if there were siblings in need of adoption. They were eager to keep families intact. Those are the kinds of families DCF is looking for because, while babies are easy to adopt out, older children, especially those with siblings, are especially hard to find families for. More than 2,200 children are in foster care in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Many find themselves up for adoption for a variety of reasons. "Everybody needs a loving home," said Indiana Valdez of the Sylvia Thomas Center. "Everybody wants a family to go back to." For information on how to adopt, call 229-2884. -- Jackie Ripley can be reached at 226-3468
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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