Florida Governor Charlie Crist to Help Launch “Winter’s Dream” Adoption Campaign

Florida Governor Charlie Crist to Help Launch “Winter’s Dream” Adoption Campaign

Press Conference to be Held to Announce Details of the One-of-a-Kind Program

WHAT: Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) will welcome Florida Governor Charlie Crist and other dignitaries in honor of a new adoption campaign called “Winter’s Dream.” CMA is partnering with the Progress Energy Heart Gallery and Eckerd Community Alternatives to raise awareness of the need for children in foster care to be adopted and the need for Winter the dolphin to be adopted. This event is being held in conjunction with the Governor’s Office of Adoption and Child Protection and the Florida Department of Children and Families. The press conference will include Governor Crist, details of the adoption campaign, adoption success stories, and photos of the Governor with local foster kids available for adoption and Winter the dolphin!

WHEN: Monday, February 8 at 2 p.m.

WHERE: Clearwater Marine Aquarium (located at 249 Windward Passage in Clearwater)

BACKGROUND:

At any given time, there are nearly 1,000 foster children in Florida and more than 120 in Pinellas and Pasco counties awaiting adoption. “Winter’s Dream” is that every foster child available for adoption finds his or her “forever family.” Winter lost her family, overcame physical challenges and found a new family with CMA. Many kids in Florida’s foster care system face similar challenges and are considered “special needs” given their background, age or disability. These children have been separated from their birth families, live in foster care and now need adoptive homes. Each month, CMA will feature the faces and stories of local foster kids awaiting adoption on our Web site and at CMA in a special exhibit. CMA will also donate 20 percent of the proceeds from Winter’s adoptions to the Heart Gallery.

The Heart Gallery provides an emotionally safe way to promote local adoptions by featuring the photos and stories of local foster children ready for adoption. Eckerd Community Alternatives is the lead agency for community based child welfare services in Pinellas and Pasco counties. Last year, thanks to the efforts of organizations such as the Heart Gallery, more than 321 foster children found forever adoptive families. For information on adoption, visit www.heartgallerykids.org or www.adoptflorida.org.

Governor Charlie Crist has made adoption one of his top priorities. In July 2007, the Governor signed a measure creating the Office of Adoption and Child Protection and appointed a Chief Child Advocate, Jim Kallinger, to promote adoption and abuse prevention. The office developed and launched an adoption public awareness campaign called “Explore Adoptions.”

Winter lost her tail after getting caught in a crab trap line in December 2005. She had to figure out a way to swim without her natural tail and is now even learning how to swim with a one-of-a-kind prosthetic tail. Her amazing story is told in detail in Winter’s Tail, a book recently published by Scholastic. Winter is a dolphin that “never says never” and her story of survival inspires people all over the world. Clearwater Marine Aquarium is a working animal hospital dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of marine life.

For information on the “Winter’s Dream” campaign, click here

Contact: Jeni Hatter, 727-686-4827

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