ANKENY, Iowa — On Sunday the nonprofit Iowans for Adoption hosted its first fundraising event since the start of the pandemic.
The domestic adoption process can be pretty pricey, costing anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000, according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway.
“Right now, there are 400,000 youth in foster care nationwide, and 100,000 of those are waiting to be adopted,” Iowans for Adoption founder Diana Lang said. “Here in Iowa, there are more than 1,000 kids who are waiting to be adopted.”
Iowans for Adoption hosted the Move for Adoption 5K fun run at the DMACC Ankeny campus to try and reduce those numbers.
“We raise money to help promote adoption on all facets,” Lang said. “We support birth families who choose to make an adoption plan.”
People paid $20 to register for the 5K. All of the proceeds go to adoption fees and educational materials that will be displayed at hospitals and family planning clinics.
“Children, families are extraordinarily important," Lang said. "Adoption is extraordinarily important. It helps build families and it improves the health and well being of people all over.”
The fundraiser helps families like the Temples from Ankeny. In 2017 Kelsy Temple received a grant from Iowans for Adoption to help cover the adoption fees for her son, Santana.
“It's so expensive to adopt, and we had gone through a failed adoption where we lost a lot of money,” Temple said. “You can apply for a grant from different charities around Iowa.”
Temple credits the nonprofit for helping her navigate the confusing adoption process and eventually adopt Santana and his sister Scarlette.
“When you get to the end, you see the other side, you've got your family, it's like, I can't even describe it,” Temple said.
The last time the nonprofit held a fundraiser was the Gingerbread Run for Adoption in November 2019. When organizers relaunched the event this year, they moved it to September for the warmer weather.