A Franchisee Hits the Road for Adoption

When it comes to our support for children in foster care, we’ve taken on the mission of finding families for these children wholeheartedly.  Need proof?  Check out this earlier blog, and this one. 

That should catch you up to speed on our feelings on the topic.

And the dedication to finding homes for these children is not just a Wendy’s Company-thing.  We’re extremely proud of our hundreds of franchisees who have adopted (pun incredibly intended) the cause and made their own mark.

But there’s one franchisee, in particular, getting ready to embark a pretty significant journey. 

To tell you about it, we’re welcoming the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption President & CEO Rita Soronen to The Square Deal.  In the following blog, Rita shares the distance and lengths Ed Anderson is going to put a spotlight on the importance of this cause. 

- Liliana

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Where the rubber meets the road. A cliché for where the hard work takes place, but for Wendy’s franchisee Ed Anderson, it’s truly where he plans to raise $1 million for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

After months of training, Ed will strap on his bike helmet, pump up his tires and hit the road for a two-month bike ride across America, all in the name of foster care adoption.

The relationship between the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and Wendy’s goes beyond our shared founder. It runs to the core of both businesses. Both are living the mission and vision of Dave Thomas. Ensuring loving and permanent homes for children in foster care waiting to be adopted is as much a part of the Wendy’s story as it is the Foundation’s. Franchise owners understand and share the company’s commitment. Yet, we are always delighted when a franchisee finds a unique way to honor Dave’s memory by pledging to help those children who are lingering in foster care.

It starts July 27, 2016 when Ed will leave from Newport News, VA and pedal across the country to the California coast. He’ll make 21 stops in the communities that other Wendy’s franchise owners call home. His dedicated wife will drive the more than 4,000 miles on the same roads, to make sure Ed gets from place-to-place safely. Ed’s training, his bike ride and his promise to the Foundation isn’t a surprise. Each year the Foundation is the beneficiary of many generous offerings from so many in the Wendy’s family. The funds that are dedicated to our work are stewarded with care and intention to ensure the best possible outcome for the children we serve.

Wendy’s Wonderful Kids

There are 130,000 children in foster care in the U.S. and Canada waiting for adoptive homes. The Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program funds grants for public and private agencies to hire specially-trained adoption recruiters whose sole focus is to find permanent, loving homes for the children who are in foster care the longest. Each dollar that comes into the Foundation helps to support this program and raise awareness for the children waiting for forever families. Our community of recruiters is growing. We have more than 200 recruiters with at least one recruiter in all 50 states and six Canadian provinces. This year we are adding additional recruiters in Ontario and Colorado, and hope to expand in more states soon. Each time you donate to Ed’s Tour de Adoption, you are donating to the Foundation. Your dollars are helping to find more adoptive homes for the children who so desperately want someone to call mom and dad.

Permanency, security, love; they are the birth right of every child.

We could not be more thrilled that Ed Anderson is dedicating his time, energy and resources to this cause and we will be cheering him on for every mile. It’s time for these 130,000 children to all go home. We hope you’ll join in supporting Ed’s Tour de Adoption, either through raising awareness in your network or donating to the goal here.

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