FREDDIE MAC FOUNDATION AND WASHINGTON CAPITALS TEAM UP TO HELP REGION'S 6,000 FOSTER CHILDRENPartnership Recruits Adoptive Families, Raises Awareness at Caps Games
February 8, 2007
Contact: Patricia Fuentes, (703)903-3504
Nate Ewell, 202-266-2357
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Donning a favorite player's jersey and cheering for the home hockey team is a pastime shared by many families, but for more than 6,000 foster children in this region special moments like these with a family of their own are only a dream. The Freddie Mac Foundation and the Washington Capitals are teaming up to help remedy that and help find homes for the hundreds of children available for adoption. The Foundation and Capitals are starting a partnership to help recruit adoptive families for more of our region's foster children as well as raise awareness of their plight.
Every weekend home game at Verizon Center – starting this Saturday, February 10th – will be a "Freddie Mac Foundation's Wednesday's Child Game," when fans will have a chance to learn more about the plight of foster kids and find out what they can do to make a difference in a foster child's life.
"The Freddie Mac Foundation is devoted to making a difference in the lives of foster children, and we are excited to be teaming up with the Washington Capitals to strengthen our impact in this community and in the lives of foster children," says Ralph F. Boyd, chairman of the Foundation. "We are also thrilled to work with the Capitals to give these children a chance to be part of an exciting and memorable day, and very possibly, a life-changing day if it helps them find a permanent family."
"The Capitals organization and ownership group are committed to improving the lives of the region's youth," said Mike Humes, the team's chief sales officer. "We are excited to partner with the Freddie Mac Foundation as we jointly seek to identify families for local foster children as well as provide an avenue to increase awareness of this cause."
Wednesday's Child Capitals games expand on the Foundation-sponsored television program "Wednesday's Child," which for 15 years has profiled children in need of adoption with the aim of finding them adoptive families. The program airs weekly in Washington, D.C., as well as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York and Atlanta, and has successfully helped to find more than 1,000 children permanent homes. In the D.C. region the program is a partnership between the Foundation, NBC4 and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. It airs on NBC4 during the news on Wednesdays at 5 p.m., Thursdays at 10 a.m. and Sundays at 9 a.m., and is hosted by news anchor Barbara Harrison.
Children who have been featured on the "Wednesday's Child" program, as well as other children in need of adoption, will be guests at weekend home games and have a chance to meet the players, ride the Olympia ice resurfacer and interact with the team's mascot, Slapshot. In this way, the partnership will offer foster children a day of fun while reminding our community about the children's need for a permanent, loving home. In addition, fans will have a number of opportunities through in-arena messaging and radio promotions to learn about the issue of foster care and how they can get involved.
This partnership builds on numerous other Foundation efforts to improve the lives of foster children in the nation's capital and across the country. Through grants to nonprofits that support foster children and their families, as well as sponsorship of public awareness and service efforts such as National Adoption Day, the Adoption Expo and the Heart Gallery, the Foundation has invested millions of dollars to improve the lives of children in the foster care system.
Created by Freddie Mac in 1991, the Freddie Mac Foundation is dedicated to creating hope and opportunity for children and their families. As the largest corporate funder in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Freddie Mac and the Freddie Mac Foundation have invested nearly $280 million in organizations serving the community.