MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich.-- Muskegon County officials dressed up in superhero costumes on Friday to celebrate the parents who are giving children their forever homes on Michigan Adoption Day.
“The families are superheroes, the people that work with them are superheroes and the kids love superheroes," says Muskegon County Probate Judge Brenda Sprader.
The celebration featured Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson dressed as Batman. There was also cake, balloons and cardboard cutouts of superheroes.
Counties across the state celebrate Adoption Days in different ways. Sprader tells FOX 17 she got the idea last year to have county staff dress up as superheroes.
“It took a small army to put this day together," says Sprader.
Sprader says the rest of the staff jumped at the opportunity to make the day special for the children.
“It’s important for awareness," says Sprader. "It’s important for these families to come in and be recognized as superheroes because they’re giving their life and their family to a new child and taking them in and giving them a forever home.”
Getting adopted usually comes after a child spends years in the foster care system. Being a foster parent doesn't require being a superhero, just having a big heart, like the parents of a newly-adopted girl on Friday.
“A family that lived across the street from another family that was fostering and they met the little girl and decided that they wanted to foster, so that’s what today’s about," says Sprader. "If you’re thinking about fostering and have any questions about that, just see the other families doing it and realize that you can do it.”
Sprader says the day is all about awareness that anyone can make a difference in a child's life.
“We need places for these kids to go," says Sprader. "So the families that are participating today have been foster care, maybe not just for the child they’re adopting but for many children until they got to one they were going to adopt.”
Michigan Adoption Month lasts throughout November. To learn more about adoption or becoming a foster parent, click here.
