Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas was adopted when he was six weeks old, and served as a passionate advocate for adoption. In 1992 he established the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA) which has one mission: To dramatically increase the number of adoptions from foster care.

The Foundation established its signature adoption program, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, in 2004, which funds adoption recruiter positions as adoption agencies across the United States and Canada. Wendy’s Wonderful Kids adoption recruiters specifically work with older children, sibling groups and children with special needs. For the past several years, this program has allowed us to employ these recruiters in Albany and Schenectady counties. And thanks to new funding from the Foundation, in partnership with the state of New York, we’re about to serve even more.

We recently were awarded a $182,900 grant from DTFA, part of a $9.1 million program expansion throughout New York state ($5.1 million from DTFA and $4 million from the state,) which has allowed us to sustain the two existing recruiter positions and hire two additional recruiters to serve Columbia, Orange, Rensselaer, and Saratoga counties. Beginning July 1, 2018, DTFA will provide a $300,000 annual grant to support the program at Northern Rivers.

We are honored to be part of this nationwide program that has found forever families for more than 7,000 children waiting in foster care. Thank you to DTFA for continuing to carry out the vision of Dave Thomas and believing that every child is adoptable.