[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14723]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ANGELS IN ADOPTION

 Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize Jim and 
Jean Mulder of Eureka, SD, as my nominees for the 2011 Angels in 
Adoption Award. Since 1999, the Angels in Adoption program through the 
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute have honored more than 
1,700 individuals, couples, and organizations nationwide for their work 
in providing children with loving, stable homes.
  Fifty-nine foster children have come to know what it means to have 
loving parents through the compassion of Jim and Jean Mulder. While 
some parents struggle to find a new identity after their youngest child 
enrolls in elementary school full time, Jim and Jean decided they just 
enjoyed being parents too much. So, for the past 20 years, this 
generous couple has opened their home in north central South Dakota to 
kids who have only known stability and hot meals to be luxuries. The 
simple things, such as tossing the baseball around or going fishing, 
have come to mean the world to the Mulder's because they can see the 
joy in their foster children's faces and know the impact their love has 
had. Jim and Jean included their foster children in all family 
activities with their biological children, and gave their 59 foster 
children a sense of what it means to be in a loving, stable family.
  With children coming in and out of their home, staying anywhere from 
months to nearly a decade, one can only imagine the range of emotions 
Jim and Jean have experienced. From laughter to heartbreak, they both 
count their God-given role as foster parents as nothing shy of a 
blessing. With that blessing, they have bestowed a gift onto others in 
an immeasurable way.
  With National Adoption Day just around the corner on November 19, 
2011, it is important that we recognize the compassionate families who 
fulfill the roles of foster and adoptive parents. It brings me great 
pride to be able to honor South Dakotans Jim and Jean Mulder, my 
nominees for the 2011 Angels in Adoption Award.

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