Humbled to be recognized

(from Stephanie Herseth Sandlin's website...a friend found this when she "googled" my name :) We also want to personally thank Congresswoman Herseth Sandlin for taking time out of a hectic campaign to invite our family for an ice cream cone to celebrate this nomination, and just for her to check in on the kids. What a genuinely, caring person...and fun conversations!

HERSETH SANDLIN NOMINATES BRUCE AND JILL LEAR OF WATERTOWN AS ANGELS IN ADOPTION


Washington, DC (October 1, 2010) – Today, U.S. Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin announced she has nominated Bruce and Jill Lear of Watertown as 2010 Angels in Adoption. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), which orchestrates the Angels in Adoption program, will honor 140 Angels at an awards ceremony and gala event in Washington, DC, October 6, 2010.

As a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), Rep. Herseth Sandlin nominated the Lear’s for recognition as part of CCAI’s Angels in Adoption program. This program allows for Members of Congress to “honor the good work of constituents who have enriched the lives of foster children and orphans.”

“I am so pleased that Bruce and Jill Lear were able to bring their adoptive children, Pierre and Ange-Laurette, to the U.S. after the tragic earthquake that struck Haiti,” said Rep. Herseth Sandlin.

Two days after the earthquake in Haiti on January 14, 2010, Jill and Bruce Lear contacted Rep. Herseth Sandlin for assistance in securing temporary visas for their two adoptive children, Pierre and Ange-Laurette. The children’s orphanage was badly damaged during the earthquake, as was the building that processed adoptions.

Rep. Herseth Sandlin and Senators Johnson and Thune worked with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to assist the Lears in bringing their son and daughter from Haiti and to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Bruce and Jill Lear joined them.

The Angels in Adoption program is CCAI’s signature public awareness campaign and provides an opportunity for all members of the U.S. Congress to honor the good work of their constituents who have enriched the lives of foster children and orphans in the United States and abroad. “The Angels in Adoption program is unlike any other program in the Nation’s Capital. Because of it, over 1700 “Angels’ have come to share with Washington their adoption experience and left with a renewed excitement of all that adoption makes possible,” said Kathleen Strottman, Executive Director of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.

CCAI is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about foster children in the U.S. and the millions of orphans around the world in need of permanent, safe, and loving homes. CCAI’s goal is to eliminate the barriers that hinder these children from realizing their basic right to a family.