Shop to Adopt

There is nothing quite like the holiday season—nor anything like the smile upon a child’s face.

On Tuesday afternoon, Minnesota Timberwolves players generated many smiles, as they led 22 youth waiting to be adopted around the Nicollet Mall Target store on a shopping spree. The event was part of the Season of Giving presented by Denny Hecker Automotive Group and the Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation.

Wolves players Al Jefferson, Randy Foye, Craig Smith, Corey Brewer, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Anotine Walker, Michael Doleac, Greg Buckner, Mark Madsen and Gerald Green each led two kids around the Target store and mentored each on how to fill a shopping cart with $450 worth of toys, ranging from iPods to bicycles. Previous to the Target trip, the kids crafted Christmas lists over lunch at Chipotle.

The 22 children were selected by the Minnesota Adoption Resource Network and Department of Human Services.

“Most of these kids were taken from their homes for various reasons,” said Lorenzo Davis, state adoption exchange coordinator for the network. “Right now we are trying to find as many foster families or permanent families as we can. For many of them this is the best Christmas they will have.”

Davis also pointed out the impact the Wolves players had on the youth.

“We have quite a few athletic kids who themselves participate in sports and outdoor activities,” he said. “To meet these superstars is a very charitable event that gives them hope to be whatever they want to be in life and hope that they will end up in a home. It’s huge.”

Gomes led Tim of Pine City and Luke of Centerville straight to the iPod section, as the first item on Tim’s list was a new iPod touch. Luke, however, was more into Playstation games.

“The holidays, that’s what it’s about ... giving unto others,” Gomes said. “Today, as a team, that’s what we’re here to do. We want to show them what we do on a typical day when we aren’t playing basketball. They get to see us on TV, but this can go even further than that because they are actually here with us and can hold a conversation 1-on-1 with us. They can see us in a different light.”

Alastair of Vadnais Heights, led by Smith, had a shopping cart of a new Playstation 3, an NBA game and a wireless controller to go with it.

“I’ve never had anything like this before,” Alstair said. “This is the best Christmas present I could ask for.”

Many of the children are in temporary foster homes and are forced to relocate often.

“It’s okay (living in a foster family), but I want a family and a house that I will live in forever and not just a temporary placement,” said Alastair, who participates in a Hennepin County group that works with kids waiting for a family and are in temporary foster care.

For many Timberwolves players, the opportunity was a chance not only to give back to the Minnesota community, but to spread the word about adoption and the need for full-time adoptive families.

“The message of adoption is one of the greatest things on this earth,” Madsen said. “I have three adoptive nieces in my family and they are a blessing to my sisters, to my grandparents, to everybody. It’s been a wonderful experience on a personal level.”

There are over 600 kids registered in the Minnesota Adoptive Resource Network alone that need permanent families.

“We’re trying to get the word out to families that are looking to adopt,” Gomes said. “(We need families to) take (these kids) in as one of their own. Hopefully people will see that we care about them and other people will see the glow in their eyes.”

The meaning of family is simple, according to Alastair.

“(Family means) somebody to love me, care for me and help me when I’m sick.”