Doug Munster and Kecia Tomlin developed the Adopted By You 5K & Fun Run in 2017 and chose to partner with Gift of Adoption based on the amazing success GOA has with providing grants to so many deserving children and families over the past 22 years. Doug and his husband Brent are no strangers to adoption. They now have a beautiful 3-year old boy named Sawyer who they adopted through the open adoption process. During this process, Doug and Brent saw firsthand how expensive it is to adopt and how upfront costs of adoption can often delay or prevent adoptions from happening. They realized how fortunate they were to have the means to afford adoption, but their hearts ached for the children waiting and qualified parents yearning to bring them home. Doug and Brent wanted to find a way to give back and help adoptive families with the last bit of financial support they need to bring their waiting child home. Doug discussed his idea with his close friend Kecia, and she immediately jumped on board. On June 10, 2017, Doug and Kecia hosted the inaugural Adopted By You 5K & Fun Run (in partnership with GOA) to support the many children in need of a forever family.
The Adopted By You 5K & Fun Run team was able to raise over $26K from the 2017 inaugural race with the help of approximately 300 race participants and volunteers. Corporate and private sponsorships represented about $10K of the total funds raised. Funds from last year’s event helped 8 children join their families in Georgia (Bethlehem, Canton, Kennesaw, Leesburg, Marietta, Sandy Springs, Warner Robins, and Woodbine). Of these, six were domestic adoptions and two were from China.
