**2nd Sunday of the month, 10am – 1pm, San Francisco Play Group     San Francisco
A regular monthly event for  toddlers, pre-schoolers (younger and older siblings are welcome), playground to be announced.  Any questions, contact Elizabeth Huey by e-mail: elizabeth_huey@yahoo.com

**Mid-Peninsula playgroup      Mid-Peninsula
Mid-Peninsula Adoptive Families Playgroup, locations to be announced. For all ages and any families built by adoption. This group has been meeting on the second & fourth Saturdays from 10AM - 12Noon. If there is enough interest, we can also add a weekday time. For info, contact Cathy Chang, gnahc3@aol.com

**Last Sunday of the month, 11am  – 1pm, South Bay Play Group     South Bay
Next dates are February 26 2006, March 26 2006, ....
For:  Toddlers, Pre-schoolers (Younger and Older Siblings Welcome)
Place:   Portal Park at 10299 North Portal Avenue  (Be sure to take North), Cupertino  (west of Vallco Shopping Mall, north of Stevens Creek Blvd.)
There are designated play structures and areas for 3 different age groups
and a large sandbox.  Bring your own snack and/or lunch.
Any questions, contact Pearl: goginosprint21 @ earthlink.net (please remove the spaces before and after the @ sign)

4th Monday of the month, 10-11 a.m., Special Drop-in Play Groups for Adopted Children, Parents Place, 1710 Scott Street, San Francisco (also playgroups in Marin, Sonoma and Palo Alto)
Adoption Connection is now offering Drop-In Play Groups for kids adopted both domestically and internationally. Come and join the
fun! Cost: FREE! To find out more, contact Cindy Levin at Adoption Connection, 415/359-2494 or CindyL@jfcs.org.

Parents Place
Parent support groups, classes, workshops, counseling, drop-in play room and resources such as a parenting library and child care and community bulletin board matching families and caregivers are only some of the services offered by the nationally-recognized Parents Place of the Jewish Family and Children's Services.  Bay Area locations include San Francisco, Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma.  For more information, visit the Parents Place web sites or call. San Francisco: 415. 359. 2454; Peninsula 650. 688. 3040; Marin 415. 491.7559; Sonoma 707. 571.8131.

Pact Teen Club - Separate groups for teens and pre-teens
teenclub@pactadopt.org
Teens only! Meet other kids of color who were adopted or fostered. Here's a
chance to have a good time with other kids who are like you. There will be
teen / tween only activities. Parents can participate in a concurrent peer
support group during which childcare will be available for younger siblings.

FAIR calendar and Pact calendar: On-going education by non-profit or volunteer organizations for adoptive families and children.

First Week Fiesta: Attention all single moms and people who know single moms returning from China: We FCC (single) moms and dads and SF Bay SAPS (Single Adoptive Parents) would like to welcome single moms home with our First Week Fiesta. We have been in their shoes and understand how overwhelming that first week back can be (even the second or third time around!). We are here to provide a week’s worth of home-cooked meals or groceries and a friendly visit or two. Just email Julia Schulman, Julschul@aol.com, and we will set up a “fiesta” for any single mom in the Bay Area. Welcome to our community!

Asian American Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drives Various locations
Visit the Asian American Donor Program at www.aadp.org for more info. As many of you know, we have an FCC family whose 6-year-old, Sara Ruehling, has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant to survive. Asians and other ethnic minorities in the U.S. are seriously underrepresented in the national bone marrow donor pool. We may not be able to locate our children’s birth families, but we can work with the Asian American community to boost the numbers of Asian donors in the pool, and by so doing increase our children’s chances of survival. The AADP, based in Oakland, administers the drives and covers the cost of donor screening and typing. General info about bone marrow donation can be found at www.marrow.org (includes pages in Chinese and other languages). Sara Ruehling’s site is www.marrowforsara.org. For help organizing a drive, contact Nancy Humphrey, nancy.humphrey@comcast.net
 

May 2008

**Saturday, May 17, 9:00 am–12:30 pm                                                            Oakland
PACT Training: Parenting Strategies for Adoptive Families. Parenting an adopted child is both the same as and different than parenting a child born to you. This workshop focuses on changing schools, moving, adding or losing family members, and other life events with special resonance for adoptive families. It also addresses specific parenting theories and their applicability to adoptive families. Info: http://www.pactadopt.org/events/strategies.html.

Sunday, May 18, 10:00 am–5:00 pm                                                                   Sacramento
Pacific Rim Festival, Old Sacramento and Westfield Downtown Plaza. Lion dancers, Asian cultural celebrations on stage, crafts, shopping, food, and more! Info: www.pacificrimstreetfest.com; also watch the e-list for details.

Sunday, May 18, 1:00–4:00 pm                                                                            San Francisco
Lifebook Workshop. A special workshop for adoptive parents. A lifebook is a tool to help you and your child address, face, discuss, and answer the questions particular to their circumstances. Learn how to get started and about tools and techniques to get it done. You and your child will benefit! Cost: $30. Please register by May 11. To register and for location details, contact Ann Singer, annlsinger@aol.com or 415-261-4121.

June 2008 and later

Planning and Reporting Events?

Please submit event listings to Events Bulletin Manager: Jan Spauchus, jspauschus@yahoo.com

Please include the following information when submitting events for the calendar (or for the email postcard list, or website):

1. Name of Region
2. Anticipated Date (as close as you can get)
3. Description of Event (Who should come, and why would it be good to attend?)
4. Time
5. Location (with directions if needed) 
6. Contact Name, with telephone number and email address if available.  In general, we don't post phone numbers on the website, but we do use them on the events bulletin that is mailed to our members. 
7. Suggested donation of food/money, or anticipated fees.

Forms provided to help you plan events:

• Event Planning Form
• Checks Received Form

If you have idea about an article you want to write, please send it to Allison Branscombe, Newsletter Editor at RRandAB@alumni.ksg.harvard.edu. The newsletter comes out three times a year, covering a wide range of articles and topics of interest to our families. It is a benefit of chapter membership only for current, paid members.

 

updated 4 May, 2008