Here is one way you can help orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children in Holt’s care this holiday season….

When you enter amazon.com through Holt’s website all purchases you make through Amazon will benefit children in Holt’s care. ….Click here to go to the site and for more details

Foster mothers from South Korea visit Holt Headquarters

Two foster mothers from Seoul, South Korea, made the long journey to Holt’s headquarters in Eugene, Oregon in November for a very special day that would reunite them with the children they had said goodbye to so long ago.

Mrs. Jang, Woo-kyung and Mrs. Lee, Chung-sun have dedicated their lives to orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children for over 15 years, each selflessly taking care of 40 and 38 children, respectively, some of whom have special needs.

On that same day, seven adoptive families, some from as far as the Midwest, also traveled to Holt’s headquarters to reunite their children with the foster mothers and show their appreciation to the women who had cared for their children and prepared them for a lifetime of love with their new families.

“When we arrived at Holt’s headquarters, Mrs. Lee turned and saw Trent. In a voice that was part sigh of relief, but completely joyous, she said, “Hyo-sung!” said Dawn Reed, mother of Trent, one of Mrs. Lee’s foster children. “Hyo-sung was Trent’s Korean name, and Mrs. Lee knew him. This woman, who had only mothered my son for two months, recognized him 6 years later. She told us that she knew his eyes.”

When children come into care at Holt Korea, it’s the foster mothers, like Mrs. Jang and Mrs. Lee, who wrap them up and give them comfort and warmth for most likely the first time in their lives. They love the children as if they were their own and provide for them until they go home to loving families.

During the emotional visit to Eugene, the foster mothers and adoptive families got the chance to visit Harry and Bertha Holt’s home in Creswell, and spent some time in the place where the legacy of love and caring began over 50 years ago. The children were allowed to play on the property and bond once again with the first mothers they had ever known. Read the rest of this entry »

Holt Ambassadors participate in the Omaha Marathon

Holt runners and aid station volunteers came together to participate in the Omaha Marathon 2009 to raise money and awareness for the Holt Ethiopia program. Nearly 15 Holt runners participated in the 10K and the half marathon portions of the event, and another 10 volunteers helped out by directing runners along the route and handing out Holt items at the finish line.

Through the team’s hard work and passionate efforts, runners were able to raise $3,565, making the event a huge success! This money will go to provide the children in Ethiopia with much needed medical supplies.

The race began at 7:00 AM, and as the Holt team began the first mile, minds were focused not so much on the physical race that the team was running, but on the figurative race – the race to bring medical supplies to the children who are waiting in Holt’s care in Ethiopia.

Every child deserves a home, and while these children wait for their forever families, the team focused their minds on Holt’s dedication to providing a safe and healthy environment for them. Some runners wore pictures of their own children on their Holt t-shirts, those waiting to come home and those who have already come home, and this helped add a very personal touch to the race. The mood was festive, but everyone was keenly aware of the seriousness of the cause.

“Several runners commented on the picture I pinned to the back of my shirt of my son Jack wearing his most infectious grin! It helped open the door to conversations about Holt and our cause,” said Holt mom Cathy Morin. Read the rest of this entry »

Susan Cox, Holt International’s Vice President of Public Policy and External Affairs, will be a guest speaker on the Creating a Family radio show with Dawn Davenport on Wednesday, November 11th. The topic will be “Adopting from South Korea” and will discuss the future of adoption in South Korea, as well as information on the process of adopting a child from this country.  The radio segment will air at 9:00 a.m.

You can listen to the program live Here

Or listen to the segment after it airs Here

Other guests will include: Nancy Fox, Executive Director of Americans for International Aid and Adoption, and Duk Kyung Um, Korean Program Director for Dillon International.

Click here to learn more about Creating a Family

Learn more about Holt’s Korea adoption process

brighten the life of a child in Korea this Christmas

Holt needs volunteers to sign up for this year’s Gift Team trip to Korea. Every December volunteers on Holt’s Korea Gift Team deliver gifts and host celebrations for the children, foster mothers and caregivers at the Ilsan Center and Jeonju Babies’ Home—A tradition that the children look forward to every year.

All year long the children, of all ages, make gifts and practice songs and skits as they prepare to entertain for the Gift Team’s arrival.

Members of the Gift Team also get the chance to tour the grounds and cottages of the Ilsan Center, and learn more about the history of Holt’s work in Korea.

If you would like to join the Gift Team to Korea and help bring some holiday cheer to the children in Holt’s care, please contact Ann Marie Pentacost at annmariep@holtinternational.org  for more information and to receive a registration form.

Travel: December 1-8

Registration Deadline: October 4th

Estimated Cost: approx. 2,800-3,330 per person to include airfare, hotel, ground transportation in Korea, most meals.

“Part of communicating who we are is our logo, but we wanted it to portray so many aspects of who we are,” said Holt President and CEO Kim S. Brown. “That’s why we knew it would be an involved effort when we started considering updating our traditional logo well over a year ago. I’m very pleased now to present our new Holt International brandmark. We’ll begin publishing this new brandmark on our communications over the next several months.

“With Holt so much can be said. Little things, like the way we make sure infants are held when they’re fed. To big things, like bringing about significant changes in the child welfare system of an entire country where we work. Holt has come a long way since Harry and Bertha Holt sat at their kitchen table and answered letters from prospective adoptive parents. But in many ways, the Holts’ legacy continues as the foundation of our work every day. Simple nutrition and loving care are still our most effective tools for helping weak and under-nourished children to survive. Finding the most appropriate solution for each individual child who needs a family continues to be our hallmark.”

The new brandmark incorporates an image of a couple lovingly embracing a child. This represents the importance of parents in a child’s life—the nurturing, security and encouragement offered by a permanent family. The concept connects with the belief that launched Holt in the mid 1950s—that a family is the right and best place to raise and nurture a child.

A logical update of Holt’s traditional parent/child logo, the new design reinforces the Holt International tagline, “Finding families for children.” Read the rest of this entry »

by Sally Dunbar, Holt Family Recruitment Specialist

Jeonju, Republic of South Korea—Few things are more precious than a child’s face on Christmas. The 2008 Holt International Gift Team hosted the annual Christmas party for infants and children at Jeonju Babies’ Home on Saturday. Jeonju is a homelike care center for infants and children whose birth families cannot care for them for a variety of reasons. Some children have been brought to Jeonju by their birth parents or relatives; social service workers have brought others. Regardless of how the children arrive, the goal for them is to help stabilize their families to make reunification possible, find domestic adoptive families when reunification is not possible, or find families through intercountry adoption when it is in the best interest of the child. About half of the 60 children at Jeonju will eventually be reunified with their birth families.

The Christmas party at Jeonju is the children’s biggest party of the year. The staff begins preparing for next year’s party as soon as the current year’s party ends, and this year was no exception. The children performed an entire program of folk and modern songs and dance.

As our bus approached the city of Jeonju, our team noticed a big celebration or festival going on. We learned that the children of Jeonju Babies’ Home have become quite popular in the community for their musical and dance talents and had been invited by the governor of the province to perform in the city’s celebration, but the children respectfully declined because the celebration was the same day as our visit, and staff felt our visit was more important.

The 5- and 6-year-old boys and girls performed several perfectly choreographed songs and dances including a traditional Korean drum orchestral performance.  I was impressed at the concentration and memorization their performance required and understood why they’re so popular in the community. They were truly good! After their performance, Santa arrived to pass out toys to each boy and girl. At first the children sat patiently across the room for their names to be called, but with every name called, the children scooted in closer and closer to Santa until they were all but reaching in Santa’s toy bag to find the present with their own name on it. Read the rest of this entry »

by Sally Dunbar, Holt Family Recruitment Specialist

Ilsan, Republic of South Korea—It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Ilsan Center, known affectionately as Holt Ilsan Town! Today was the annual Christmas party at this residence center for homeless, disabled children and adults, some of them now in their late 50s and who have been here since Harry Holt first developed this site in the early 1960s. I couldn’t tell who was more excited: the 270 residents or the Holt International Korea Gift Team.

Molly Holt welcomed the Gift Team into her home, the last original structure that Harry Holt built at Ilsan with his own hands, and told us how much the residents have been looking forward to this day. It wasn’t long before our group was off, each donning a Santa hat, carrying bags and bags and bags of gifts, delivering them to every residence home at the center. The residents were so excited that some of them burst outside to greet the team before we arrived at their doorsteps. We shared a few Christmas carols and exchanged many hugs, but that was only the beginning of the festivities.

Once every home had received a bag of gifts, the residents, staff, volunteers and guests made their way to the gymnasium (home to Holt’s wheelchair basketball team and site of the annual Holt Cup Games) for the main Christmas party. Two members of the Gift Team (a mother and daughter) had the privilege of meeting their sponsored child, a 6-year-old boy, and walking hand-in-hand with him into the Christmas party. The happiness and excitement that was in the air instantly came over us as we walked into the gym. Residents young and old filled the room, beaming from ear to ear and talking excitedly in words I couldn’t understand with my ears, but understood perfectly well with my heart. Read the rest of this entry »

by Sally Dunbar, Holt Family Recruitment Specialist

Seoul, Republic of Korea—Holt International’s 2008 Korea Christmas Gift Team held a reception party today to honor the Korean foster mothers who care for relinquished, orphaned or abandoned babies.

Today’s party at the offices of Holt Children’s Services of Korea (HCS) was the 40th Annual Celebration for Holt’s foster mothers. Nearly 80 foster mothers, representing a combined total of over 300 years of service, came to Holt’s office in Seoul where they were honored by Mr. Park, Heung-keun, director general of Social Services; President Min, Kyung-tae of HCS; Molly Holt, board chair of HCS; Paul Kim, director of programs for Korea of Holt International Children’s Services; and Kim Hanson, Holt International board member, adoptee and adoptive mother.

Mr. Park, Heung-keun opened the ceremony with these words: “Today is a day to honor angels—the children who are our angels and their foster mothers who are their guardian angels.” As I looked at the children’s precious faces and into the eyes of their loving foster mothers, I silently asked God to bless their everlasting bond with one another. Read the rest of this entry »

Will Dantzler, chairman of Holt International Board of Directors, was in Milwaukee, WI recently to participate in a fundraiser for children in China.  He tells Lake Effect’s Stephanie Lecci about how he and his wife became inextricably involved in international adoptions. Click here to listen to this radio interview.