LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 4,500 children adopted from foster care this year celebrated finding their forever families during the 10th Annual National Adoption Day on November 21. After a decade, the number of children in foster care adopted on National Adoption Day totals nearly 30,000.

Los Angeles hosted a press conference on November 20 with Judge Michael Nash. National Adoption Day started in 2000 when a coalition of advocacy groups partnered to make the Los Angeles "Adoption Saturday" model national.

The celebration included actress Nia Vardalos, followed by finalizing adoption proceedings of more than 245 children at the Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court.

"There are 129,000 children in foster care eligible for adoption," said Ralph F. Boyd, Jr., president and CEO of the Freddie Mac Foundation. "On one single day, the lives of thousands of children in foster care are forever changed. We applaud the courts' mission to finalize foster care adoption cases."

Vardalos and her husband, actor Ian Gomez, recently adopted a child from foster care. Vardalos shared her story. "Being a mother is the best thing that's ever happened to me," she said. "I want to debunk the myths, and tell people it worked for us."

In addition, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius hosted an event in Washington D.C. Friday, joined by Joshua DuBois, director of the White House office of Faith Based and Neighborhood partnerships, U.S. Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA), U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), and Joan Lombardi, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-Departmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The event was opened by Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

"The most important people in the life of every child should be family. That singular love and commitment is something every child should have," Secretary Sebelius said.

National Adoption Day is sponsored by a coalition dedicated to improving the lives of children, including The Alliance for Children's Rights, The Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services, Children's Action Network, The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the Freddie Mac Foundation. For more information about the events that took place across the United States and information on National Adoption Day 2009, please visit www.nationaladoptionday.org.

SOURCE National Adoption Day Coalition

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http://www.nationaladoptionday.org