Summer Miracles '23 Comes to a Close
Video credit: Shushan Minasian
Kidsave’s 2023 Summer Miracles kids have boarded planes back to Colombia. For the past five weeks, they’ve lived with host families and enjoyed weekend events hosted by Kidsave, where the kids can spend time with each other and meet and connect with potential forever families. Many of the kids who’ve returned to Colombia will soon be adopted by families they connected with while here! Continue reading to hear about our final 2023 Summer Miracles events and the kids’ departure.
Follow this link to read about their arrival and the first two events.
Los Angeles
For the third event in Los Angeles, we met for glow-in-the-dark mini golf! If regular golf is a bit slow for your tastes, we highly recommend this version. The kids had a swell time and met families who were interested in getting to know them and learning more about the program.
Our final event in Los Angeles was a relaxed BBQ in the park. Some host families with grilling skills brought hot dogs and cooked a delicious summer feast. It was a great way to end an amazing summer!
New York and New Jersey
Our events in New Jersey were all about making memories. The kids honored their time in the U.S. by putting their favorite summer photos into scrapbooks. After filling their books with pictures of swimming, hiking, and other adventures, they’d created a special keepsake to treasure forever.
The kids in our N.Y. and N.J. communities also enjoyed a goodbye potluck in the park. Everyone brought dishes to share while laughing and sharing memories of their fun over the summer.
DMV
For the third event in the DC Metro Area, the kids got to unleash their inner Olympian! We hosted a “Kidsave Olympics,” with various races and obstacle courses. The kids got to have fun and play and experience what it’s like to have their very own cheer section!
The last event in DC was a scrapbooking event! Similar to our scrapbook event in New Jersey, this one was all about making memories tangible. Once the kids had filled the books with their favorite photos from the summer, they used stickers and markers to decorate and personalize their books.
The Departures
After five amazing weeks, it was time for the kids to return to Colombia. As with every year’s group, saying “farewell for now” is the hardest part. Tears were shed as kids hugged the host families they’d bonded with throughout their stay.
Priscilla and Shawn, who hosted Matt, say:
“We loved having him here with our family, and they loved him. We’re all going to miss him. We put him in some swim classes this summer – he wanted to learn to swim – and spent some time on North Captiva Island, where he got to swim in the Gulf. He had such enthusiasm for everything we did. He’d get us out of bed early and keep us going all day. It’s going to be an adjustment without him. People fall in love with that kid; he’s quite the charmer.”
The purpose of the five-week hosting period is to introduce the kids to potential adoptive families across the US. For many of the kids from this year’s group of 41, this trip back to Colombia is only temporary as the adoption process begins. But for a few others, the search continues.
Even though the kids have returned to Colombia, we are still working hard to find families for those who didn’t make a connection this summer!
Here’s the current list of kids who urgently need an adoptive family:
Stella and Vaughn, ages 11 and 16
Gracie, Jared, and Ian, ages 13, 11, and 6
Please check out our Summer Miracles gallery to learn more about the kids still looking and contact us if you have questions about meeting them!
About Summer/Winter Miracles
Summer Miracles helps older kids (ages 9-15) from Colombia – who have little to no chance of being adopted in their home country due to their age – find adoptive families here in the U.S. Families across the country host these children to give them incredible experiences and advocate for them to help them find a loving forever family.
If you are interested in adoption or would like to learn more about becoming a host family, you can book a phone call with a member of our staff at www.kidsave.org/book-summer/ or email us at summer@kidsave.org.
