Rotary Picnics Put Children Front and Center

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“Making children smile is the motivation for the San Benito’s club Adoption Awareness Picnic. Finding them families makes it all worthwhile.” Clowns, popcorn, balloons, hot dogs, pony rides – this annual Rotary club event has all the makings of serious fun. Behind the games and laughter, however, lies a serious purpose: finding permanent homes for foster children who have been removed from their own because of abuse, neglect, or other family-related problems.

In 1998, the Rotary Club of San Benito, Texas, USA, became the first club in District 5930 to host on Adoption Awareness Picnic, giving foster children a chance to meet prospective parents in a relaxed setting. The club recognized that foster children often have physical, mental, or emotional challenges that can add to the difficulty of finding an adoptive family.

“Some of these children were never going to be acceptable to prospective parents until they saw them in real life, explains Lionel Betancourt, the San Benito club member who initiated the picnics.

Children with special needs aren’t the only ones who have difficulty finding a family. A child’s age can be a deterrent to the many parents seeking babies. Brothers and sisters hoping to stay together also can be difficult to place. Yet children in these situations are finding a home because of the picnics.

“At our last picnic, an 11-year-old child was placed with a couple who had come to see the babies,” says Betancourt. “By attending these picnics, adopting parents’ eyes are opened to a completely different child than they envisioned adopting.”

Each year, more and more Rotary clubs in District 5930 seek families for Texas’ many foster children. Last year, clubs in Corpus Christi, Laredo, the McAllen/Mission are, and San Benito hosted picnics with a combined attendance of more than 500 foster children. “Rotary in every community could do something similar,” says Betancourt.