Foster Families Honored at Third Annual Gala

May 16, 2005 – During the third annual Foster Parent Appreciation Gala, the Freddie Mac Foundation joined the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) to pay tribute to hundreds of foster parents who help make a difference in the lives of 6,000 foster children in the metropolitan Washington region.

The event was an opportunity for elected officials to honor nine outstanding foster families, and drew a crowd that included foster and adoptive parents, family members, elected officials, and social services administrators Barbara Harrison, NBC-4 news anchor and host of our Wednesday’s Child program here in Washington, DC, presented the awards to the well-deserving families. Wednesday’s Child, an Emmy-nominated weekly television feature sponsored by the Freddie Mac Foundation helps find adoptive families for children in foster care, and airs in six major metropolitan areas around the country.

"For many children, their foster parents are the first truly caring and dependable adults they've ever known. Because of you, children who have been abandoned, abused and neglected can learn to believe in themselves," said Maxine B. Baker, President and CEO of the Freddie Mac Foundation. "That's why, tonight we celebrate you – your caring, your commitment and your selfless devotion to our area's most vulnerable children."

"As foster parents, you are perhaps the most important part of the child welfare system," said COG’s Board Chair Judith F. Davis. "You save children from growing up in institutions by giving them opportunities to experience loving families." Jurisdictions nominated outstanding families to receive special awards:

• Sarah and James Braxton, Arlington County, VA
• Jamie Kendall and Tim Dombro, Alexandria, VA
• Barbara Collins, District of Columbia
• Vicky and Graeme Tidman, Fairfax County, VA
• Gloria and Joe Parsley, Frederick County, MD
• Bill and Raine Dickey, Loudoun County, VA
• Eileen Hanlon, Montgomery County, MD
• Sara Furr, Prince George's County, MD
• William and Nadine Hallums, Prince William County, VA

COG is a regional organization of Washington area local governments composed of 18 local governments surrounding our nation's capital, plus area members of the Maryland and Virginia legislatures, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. The organization was created in 1957 to provide a focus for action and develop sound regional responses to such issues as the environment, affordable housing, economic development, health and family concerns, human services, population growth, public safety, and transportation.