Stand Sunday: Press Release

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LOCAL CHURCH UNITES WITH THE NATION ON STAND SUNDAY On Stand Sunday, churches invite Christians to reach foster children and families With 450,000 children in US foster care and the crisis building across the country, thousands of churches will echo a united message on Stand Sunday, November 10, 2019.

Christians across the country will celebrate God’s special love for vulnerable children – and what ordinary people can do to put that love into action.

Special events, prayers and activities on Stand Sunday invite individuals to consider adoption, foster care, mentoring and/or support for children in the foster system.

Locally, _______________________ (church, organization) is joining the global celebration by ____________________________________ (Include a few sentences describing your event and who it will benefit).

The Impact of Growing Up Without a Family In the United States, there are more than 450,000 children in the foster system today due to abuse and severe neglect. About one quarter have been permanently removed from their parents. For these children, the wait for a family often exacerbates trauma the child suffered in their own home. Every year, more than 20,000 “age out” into adulthood without a permanent family.

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Foster youth face immense difficulties. Children aging out of the system without the support of a family are far more vulnerable to traffickers, prostitution, homelessness and a host of other ills. A 2013 human trafficking raid by the FBI found that 60 percent of child victims came from foster care.

Seeking to change these numbers, faith communities across a wide range of Christian denominations unite on Stand Sunday to challenge churches to be an answer for these children. If every church in America adopted just one child from foster care, there would be more families waiting for children than children waiting for families. More information and statistics state by state can be found here.

Hundreds of Events across the U.S. The national Stand Sunday campaign, led by the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), has helped grow this vision. A list of Orphan Sunday events is available here: https://cafo.org/orphansunday/check-in/ “The size of the need can feel paralyzing. But Stand Sunday reminds us of the single statistic that matters more than any other,” said Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. “Whether through adoption, fostering or mentoring, just one caring person or family can change the life of a child forever.”

More information and a free downloadable toolkit can be found here: https://cafo.org/orphansunday/resources/foster-care-resources/ For materials and event ideas specifically for children in foster care, visit www.standsunday.org.

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