On Saturday I drove to the Milwaukee County Zoo. Amidst the noise of animals milling in their cages, families gathered to celebrate adoption. Music, food, and laughter filled the picnic area. The annual event, organized by Adoption Resources of Wisconsin, was the tenth of its kind, drawing a crowd of nearly 300 people. Wearing a bright pink shirt and a permanent smile, ARW event organizer and Training Coordinator Leann Meiners visited with attendees. Meiners, who has organized the previous seven Adoption Celebration events, said she always looks forward to seeing new and familiar faces. She explained that her goal for the event is to help kids see that there are other children who are adopted. “Many times in their own communities they are the only ones,” Meiners said.
As the event concluded, families left the picnic area to admire the zoo animals. As Meiners picked trash off the ground, cleaning up after her guests, she was still smiling.
Behind the Scenes Dispatch by:
Mary Duke, a member of the EngageWisconsin team
_______________________________
PARTICIPATE: WPT’s EngageWisconsin team invites any Wisconsin resident with a personal story about adoption to participate. Whether you are a birth parent, an adoptee, a social worker, an adoptive parent, a sibling to an adoptee, etc., we welcome and value all your stories related to adoption. 
If this opportunity interests you, please contact Mary Duke for more information.
ABOUT ADOPTION STORIES — Wisconsin is one of the most prevalent states for both domestic and international adoptions to occur. Unfortunately, there are also some 1,244 children currently in foster care, waiting to be placed in a permanent home. Between those adults choosing to adopt, children who have been adopted already, and the many children waiting for an adoptive home, it is clear that adoption is a huge part of Wisconsin’s family dynamics, affecting the lives of many of our fellow residents.
Inspired by that fact and “Adoption Stories: Inside Wisconsin Families” seeks to tell the stories of those affected by adoption within our home state of Wisconsin. As the EngageWisconsin team produces this project, you can join us Behind-The-Scene through dispatches posted by our journalists. Click here to see an archive of ADOPTION STORIES dispatches.
