response from Louis Leger concerning the ad campaign

Earlier in the week, I sent a message off to all involved concerning the plan to re-run the domestic adoption ads.

 

Here is the response in its entirety that I received from Louis Leger, the Interim Chair of the New Brunswick Adoption Foundation.

 

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Let me start by saying that the New Brunswick Adoption Foundation (NBAF) supports adoption, no matter what form it takes.  Adoption is a

personal choice; it doesn't matter if a family chooses an older child, a baby, a child with special needs, a child from New Brunswick or a child from another country - whatever way a child finds their way to a family's heart is a success story to the hard working staff and volunteers at NBAF. There are many ways to adopt and we believe people should know their options.

 

You clearly feel strongly about NBAF's awareness campaign and, as Interim Chair, I would like to respond to provide some background information and correct some inferences you have drawn in your recent letter. 

 

These ads are not intended to judge those who choose to adopt outside of New Brunswick. They are intended to raise awareness that there are too many children in New Brunswick that are waiting to be adopted, a fact that was not well known to people when we initiated the campaign in 2002.  For this reason, it was important to include in our messaging that you did not have to leave the country to adopt. 

 

You might be interested to learn that NBAF did not create this line.  It was actually licensed from a campaign developed by the government of British Columbia, which was also very successful in their bid to raise awareness of domestic adoptions.   The Foundation looked to

what was working in other jurisdictions in order to be able to apply best practices in New Brunswick. Our strategy was to celebrate kids.

 

The volunteers of the New Brunswick Adoption Foundation are immensely proud of this campaign and the results it has achieved for New Brunswick children. Before it was established, fewer than 25 New Brunswick children were being adopted each year. By contrast, since the campaign began in 2002, more than 550 New Brunswick children have found permanent homes with loving families. An increase of this nature is unheard of in the adoption world, making this the most successful adoption campaign in North America. These results are something to be proud of and we believe that these results are in part driven by the fact that we were able to raise awareness that there were kids waiting to be adopted.

 

It is true that my colleagues at Bristol Group, the company of which I am Executive Vice-President, donated their time to create these

ads: they believe in this cause and continue to donate their time to NBAF's fundraising and awareness activities on a regular basis.  We were one of many companies whose donation of time and supplies helped to make these ads a reality. None of the companies involved in the making of the ads profited in any way, nor do we profit if these ads continue to run.

 

We heard your group's concerns and we weighed them carefully in deciding this year's marketing plan. It was the unanimous decision of the Board to continue to use the ads. The Board decided this for one reason - the ads work. They bring children together with families who love them, and that is our goal.

 

Having said this, in the spirit of good will and cooperation, but most importantly in the interest of the children we work to help, we will ask the Department of Family and Community Services for their perspective on this matter. Subsequent to their input, I will ask the board to reconsider the possibility and the consequence of both keeping or deleting the line “you don't have to leave the country to adopt a child".

 

I hope this letter provides some clarity to you and the others who have expressed concerns with the campaign. 

 

Thank you for the opportunity to share these details with you.

 

Sincerely,

Louis Leger

Interim Chair, New Brunswick Adoption Foundation