RaiseAChild.US 2014 HONORS Gala “Sharing the Stories of Our Families” Highlights Family Building through Fostering and Adoption
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 30, 2014 -- “Sharing the Stories of Our Families” is the theme of the second annual RaiseAChild.US HONORS gala and award ceremony on May 18 at the W Hollywood Hotel. The inspirational brunch will honor individuals and families for their advocacy on behalf of fostering, adoption, and inclusive families. Tony Award winning actor Denis O’Hare and his husband Hugo Redwood are among the honorees, as well as Noah Michelson, executive editor of the Huffington Post Gay Voices.
Other guests of honor include Valerie Harper, John McCook, and Dr. Caitlin Ryan. Singer and Grammy nominated songwriter Bonnie McKee will perform. McKee has co-written eight No. 1 hit singles, including “Teenage Dream,” “Roar,” “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” “Wide Awake,” and “California Gurls” for Katy Perry.
RaiseAChild.US is the only national nonprofit organization that encourages the LGBT community to build families through fostering and adoption to serve the needs of the 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system. Among the services offered by RaiseAChild.US, its unique Parent Advocate Program provides information and ongoing support via phone or email to prospective parents as they move through the process from orientation and training to matching and placement.
“Our RaiseAChild.US HONORS gala has a reputation of being the most moving and inspiring event of the year,” says RaiseAChild.US founder and CEO Rich Valenza. “We are so proud of this year’s list of honorees, including Wendy and Tom Montgomery, the Mormon parents who became activists in their church after their young son came out as a gay. When we told their family’s story in our RaiseAChild.US Huffington Post Gay Voices ‘Let Love Define Family™’ weekly series, it quickly went viral, generating over 49,000 Likes.”
The list of corporate sponsors for the RaiseAChild.US HONORS event includes HBO, New York Life, Smirnoff, Southwest Airlines, and JetBlue. Turkish Airlines and W Hotels have collaborated to create the premier package for the RaiseAChild.US “Travel the World” live auction. It includes two round-trip Comfort Class tickets on Turkish Airlines to Istanbul, a three-night stay with breakfast at the W Istanbul, and then continuing air travel to any one of Turkish Airlines more than 240 destinations around the world.
Tickets can be purchased at http://raiseachild.nationbuilder.com/losangeles_2014_20140518.
According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Administration for Children & Families, there are 400,000 children in our nation’s foster care system. More than 104,000 of these children are available and waiting to be adopted. Families certified for either foster or adoptive placements are in short supply.
RaiseAChild.US campaigns welcome and support prospective LGBT parents while putting images of LGBT families into public spaces through PSAs, print media, and outdoor advertising. Since 2011, RaiseAChild.US has engaged more than 2,000 prospective parents nationally and become a leading organization for public education and advocacy on behalf of the 400,000 children awaiting foster and adoptive homes. For more information, visit http://www.RaiseAChild.US.
Corinne Lightweaver, Raise A Child Inc., http://www.RaiseAChild.US, +1 (323) 417-1440, [email protected]
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