National Adoption Month has been celebrated every November throughout the United States since 1976 to raise national awareness about adoption, celebrate children and families, and call the nation to action to find forever families for children who are living in temporary placements. Since 2013, Mother’s Choice has similarly celebrated Adoption Awareness Month in Hong Kong every November to educate and inform the community that adoption is a special way to build a family and to raise awareness of the many children who are waiting for forever families in Hong Kong.
This November, we would like to share with you these news and activities highlights!
CORPORATE COLLABORATIONS
Adoption-Friendly Workplaces for all Parents
Thank you to HKBN and Mercer, for helping to raise awareness on the importance of Adoption Leave, in building up a Family Friendly Workplace. Together with Mother’s Choice, they will host a webinar on the importance of Adoption Leave on November 11, 2020, Wednesday, from 2.00pm-3.00pm, conducted in Cantonese. If you would like to learn more about introducing Adoption Leave to your company, please register here to join: (click to register)
To build stronger adoptive families, we recently launched the Adoption Leave Guidance as well as Online Library on our website that offer advice and connection to other resources.
#ProtectYourChildren
We continue to make strides in the area of being a voice for child protection in Hong Kong. This includes Mother’s Choice being the first organization in Hong Kong to receive the international Keeping Children Safe accreditation last year. This year Hugill & Ip is also joining the conversation to raise awareness of legal issues related to the protection of children. The #ProtectYourChildren campaign officially kicks off on 9 November 2020, marking World Adoption Day. For a minimum donation of $4,800 which will go directly to Mother’s Choice, the Hugill & Ip Estate Planning team will prepare temporary and/or permanent Deed of Guardianship, on a pro-bono basis.
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COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS
Responding in Faith
Starting in October and throughout November, we are so encouraged to see the faith community across Hong Kong raise awareness of adoption. Special thanks to Church of All Nations, Kong Fok Church, The Vine, Union Church and Watermark for sharing this message!
A New Generation
On October 8, Thursday, a webinar was held to brief the nine Youth Leadership Council (“YLC”) school chapters on their first project which is to create a campaign to raise awareness and increase understanding of adoption in each YLC school community in the month of November. We look forward to hearing all the ideas & energy from the 2020/21 cohorts: CDNIS, DBS, GSIS, HKIS, ISF, Kellett, KGV, South Island, Victoria Shanghai.
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ADOPTION COMMUNITY
Building stronger families
Throughout the month of November, we will be sharing video stories from adoptive families and how their beautiful families were built through adoption. Stay-tuned on our #motherschoicehk Facebook and Instagram for their unveiling!
Celebrating adoption through Storytelling
Our #FindingFamily online storytelling campaign tells the personal stories of the many individuals and families who have been impacted by the work of Mother’s Choice. If you and your family would like to share your adoption story on #FindingFamily, drop us an email at dafnechan@motherschoice.org.
FUNDRAISING FOR ADOPTION SERVICES
Adoption Services is one of the services Mother’s Choice is most well-known for yet this service receives NO dedicated funding, either through subvention or grants. From October 15, Thursday until the first week of December, all funds raised during this period will go towards Adoption Services which costs HK$3.7 million to operate annually. If you would like to know how you can help, please contact us at: donate@motherschoice.org or +852 39155739.
For the month of November, there is also a series of events called Friends of Mother’s Choice in which the topic is centered around adoption. These events not only raise funds but shares in a more intimate setting about the work of Mother’s Choice to targeted communities. Please contact pennyseymour@motherschoice.org if you would like to join any of these events.
Nov 18, Wednesday: Faith Community (lunch)
Nov 19, Thursday: General Community (lunch)
Nov 26, Thursday: Chinese Speaking Community (lunch)
Dec 5, Saturday: Family-friendly (Christmas tea)
Venue: Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
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Mark Your Diary
Adoption Information Session
This online Information Session is key for people who want to learn more about adoption and about these waiting children. Stay-tuned for more details.
Flag Day
Volunteers needed for our Flag Day on the morning of January 23, 2021. Stay tuned for details in the next newsletter.
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Mother’s Choice is a local Hong Kong organization serving children without families and pregnant teenagers. Our vision is to see every child in a loving family. We are an accredited Adoption Services Provider of the Hong Kong Social Welfare Department Adoption Unit. Mother’s Choice has been providing adoption services for over 30 years to prepare, assess, equip, and empower families to provide a loving, stable and permanent home where children can thrive, and we support families after their adoption.