Bayside holds adoption area awareness event

EAST COUNTY — Luke and April Graham have built their lives around children, as pastor and director of the children’s ministry, respectively, at Bayside Community Church’s East Bradenton campus.

But over the last year-and-a-half, the couple has experienced the concept more intimately.

In June 2013, they adopted Mace, now 2, who was found abandoned as a newborn in Uganda.

“We both always knew we wanted to adopt,” April Graham said, adding other family members have adopted children.

The Grahams were married nine years before they started the adoption process for a child in Uganda, a country from which other families at Bayside had adopted.

“We liked the idea of kids growing up around him from Uganda,” Luke Graham said. “Even now, once a week he sees them or spends time with families who look like ours. Him growing up like that was pretty important to both of us.”

Individuals interested in adoption and fostering can learn more when Bridge a Life, a ministry of Bayside for adoptive and foster families, holds an adoption awareness event from 3 to 5 p.m. Nov. 1, at Bayside’s East Sarasota campus, 8200 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota. There, attendees can hear from Bridge a Life leaders, local Christian adoption agencies and organizations, adoption attorneys and about the growing need and current status of local and international adoptions. The event is free and open to the public.

November is National Adoption Awareness Month.

The Grahams said events like this one are a great resource for prospective adoptive families, particularly for those interested in adopting for the first time.

“If you are thinking about it at all, it’s a good thing to go to,” Luke Graham said.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

Bridge a Life Adoption Awareness Event

When: 3 to 5 p.m. Nov. 1

Where: Bayside Community Church East Sarasota campus, 8200 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota

Cost: Free

Info: bridgealife.com