COUNTRY NEWS

Family Helper    ADOPTION NEWS CENTRAL

INFERTILITY   ADOPTION   POST-ADOPTION   FAMILY TREE   Adoption Resource Central    Heart of Adoption Articles to inspire   International adoption guide   You can order Family Helper publications		Canadians win awards at NACAC conferences BY ROBIN HILBORN, Family Helper editor
		(July 28, 2004) At its 2004 conference in Minneapolis, July 28-31, the North American Council on Adoptable Children honoured people and groups for outstanding contributions to the field of adoption. Canadian recipients were: -- Mary Miller of Halifax, Nova Scotia: an Adoption Activist Award for her longtime work on the forefront of adoption in Nova Scotia. -- Thrifty Foods Inc. of British Columbia: a Corporate Award for its support of adoption in B.C. For more, see Adoption Council of Canada, "Canadians Honoured", www.adoption.ca/news/040427nacacawards.htm (Aug. 7, 2003) The North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) held its 2003 conference in Vancouver, Aug. 7-9. At the conference awards ceremony, NACAC honoured four organizations and six men and women for their outstanding contributions to the field of adoption. Four awards went to Canadians: -- Child Advocate of the Year: H. David Kirk, professor of sociology at the University of Victoria. -- Parent Group of the Year: Society of Special Needs Adoptive Parents of Vancouver. -- Corporate Award for Special Achievement in Adoption: Wendy's Restaurants of Canada, whose partnership with the Adoption Council of Canada has raised adoption awareness in Canada, and found homes for over 275 children through the Canada's Waiting Children program. -- Adoption Activist: Yellowhead Tribal Services Agency, an alliance of five Alberta First Nations, for promoting custom adoption. For details, see ACC, www.adoption.ca, and NACAC, info@nacac.org, www.nacac.org Award for Post-adoption Services -- At its August 2002 conference in Chicago, the North American Council on Adoptable Children announced a Canadian winner of the Adoption Activist award. It was not a person, but a program, the Adoption Support Program at the Queen Alexandra Centre for Children's Health, which provides post-adoption services in Victoria, B.C. The program offers workshops, parenting courses, respite plans and parent groups. Families can get counselling, psychological assessments, books and tapes. Adopted children and teens each have their own support group. (NACAC's Canadian winner of the Adoption Activist award in 2001 was Robin Hilborn, of Family Helper web site.) ________________________________________ You may reproduce this item with the credit: "Source: Family Helper (www.familyhelper.net)"