Millions of people enjoyed a Wendy’s Frosty during Father’s Day Weekend, and now more children in foster care will have greater opportunities to find permanent, loving homes.
Wendy’s announced today that more than $1.7 million was raised June 14-15 for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, based on preliminary results. This includes about $260,000 raised in Wendy’s Canadian restaurants.
The amount generated far exceeds the $1 million raised in 2007 and tops this year’s goal of $1.3 million.
For every one of the desserts sold in the U.S. during the second annual Wendy’s Father’s Day Frosty Weekend, the Company pledged a donation of 50 cents to the Foundation. In Canada, $1 was donated for each Frosty sold.
“Through the loyalty of our customers and the generosity and compassion of the Wendy’s system, we once again raised a significant amount of money to support foster care adoption. This effort will have a direct impact on children’s lives,” says Wendy’s CEO and President Kerrii Anderson, a board member of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. “As Dave Thomas often said, if just one child finds a home from our efforts, it’s all worth it.”
The signature program of the non-profit Foundation is Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. This program is filling a critical gap by funding and supporting full-time adoption recruiters at local agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces to match prospective parents with waiting foster care children.
“The average child waits in foster care more than five years, and, without help, more than 20 percent will age out of the system at 18 without knowing the love of a permanent family,” says Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. “We’re extremely grateful to everyone who supported this remarkable effort on behalf of the more than 150,000 foster care children in the U.S. and Canada who are anxiously awaiting adoption.”
