Christmas Party for Adoption Services

“Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!” Santa calls out as he enters the room full of children and youth. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to Steve Oliver, an LSG employee, Santa walks around and greets the children, who either eye him suspiciously or run up to him and shout, “Santa, Santa!” Mrs. Claus also makes an appearance, talking with the kids and answering their questions about the North Pole. Santa then takes a seat and the children form a line next to him. The first kid hops up onto his lap and nestles into position, and Santa asks his big question, the one that kids never tire of hearing: “What do you want for Christmas?”

This is how the Christmas party for LSG’s Adoption Services began. Families from across Atlanta gathered at LSG to celebrate the holidays and their involvement with the agency. Parents who had adopted infants just after they were born through LSG’s Domestic Infant Adoption Program and those who had adopted children from foster care through LSG’s Heritage Adoption Program all came together for the celebration. Two adoptive parents traveled all the way from Savannah for the party, wanting to thank everyone at LSG for helping them adopt their daughter, now a three-year-old. For Electra Evans, LSG’s Domestic Infant Adoption Coordinator, the best part of the afternoon was “seeing the babies that I placed who are now three- and four-years old.”

All of the families were familiar with LSG and the Adoption Services staff, but they did not know each other. “It was really neat how they connected over adoption,” said Noreen Horrigon, LSG’s State Adoption Program Manager, referring to the adoptive parents. Couples made these connections all afternoon, trading stories about adoption while watching their children race around the room or create necklaces and bracelets at the arts and crafts table in the corner. LSG thanks all the parents and children who celebrated with us, and we look forward to the party next year, when the Adoption “family” will have grown even larger!