LatinaLista — When it comes to giving dad a gift on Father’s Day, your neighborhood Wendy’s hamburger restaurant has a great idea that is not only cool but extra cool!
The national chain is celebrating the fourth annual Father’s Day Frosty Weekend. It’s more than just treating dad to a Frosty on his special day. The Father’s Day Frosty Weekend is about giving children who are waiting for dads of their own some hope.
Wendy’s will donate 50¢ for every Frosty sold to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA).
According to the DTFA site:
There are 463,000 children in the U.S. foster care system; 123,000 of these children are available for adoption. Their birth parent’s legal rights have been permanently terminated and children are left without a family.
More children become available for adoption each year than are adopted. In 2008, 75,000 children had parental rights terminated by the courts, yet only 55,000 were adopted.
Children often wait five years or more to be adopted., move three or more times in foster care and often are separated from siblings. The average age of waiting children is eight years old.
However, if Frostys aren’t your thing, there are other ways to help. For the first time, Wendy’s created a social media campaign called Treat It Forward using Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare to raise money.
Facebook – Donation made for each user that gives a Virtual Frosty as a gift on Facebook, or tells their friends about Father’s Day Frosty Weekend through the Facebook application.
Twitter – Donation made each time a user tweets from the Treat it Forward application found on Facebook, or uses the hashtag: #TreatItFwd.
Foursquare – Donation made for every person that ‘checks-in’ to a Wendy’s during Father’s Day Weekend (June 19 – 20)
And for those who just want to make dad a Father’s Day card, a special card site has been set up that allows users to make a free Frosty Father’s Day card. For every card made, 50 cents will be donated also to the Foundation.
Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, has since died but being himself a foster child and later adopted, he knew the agony children go through of not having someone to call dad or mom.
If the purchase of something as simple as a Frosty can make a difference for the 123,000 children waiting for parents, then it seems like a pretty easy no-brainer — not to mention tasty.
