If I said the name Dave Thomas, most anyone in the adoption world would recognize him as the founder of Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, but even more importantly, a philanthropist who was a staunch supporter of adoption. Having been adopted himself as a child, in 1992 Dave set up the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption which is dedicated to finding families for children in foster care. Sadly, he passed away at the young age of 69 on January 8, 2002 due to liver cancer, leaving behind a wife, five children and sixteen grandchildren.

I have a way you can kill 3 birds with one stone on Father's Day weekend. Honor Dave for the work he tirelessly did for foster children in America, honor the fathers in your life, and donate to Dave's signature program Wendy's Wonderful Kids. Wendy's Wonderful Kids awards grant money to adoption agencies around the U.S. and Canada to assist them in moving children from foster care into permanent families.

What do you have to do? Simply buy a Frosty...or two or three on Father's Day weekend June 16th or 17th. For every Frosty that is purchased, Wendy's restaurants will donate 50 cents to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

According to the Foundation's website, there are currently more than 513,000 children in foster care in America, 114,000 of whom are available for adoption. Unfortunately, many will spend five years or more, and multiple moves from home to home, before they are ever adopted. Many others will age out of the system without ever having a chance for a permanent family.

With the money the foundation brings in, they are able to assist adoption agencies in all 50 states to hire recruiters whose main focus is finding adoptive families for children in foster care. The program has already helped 1,000 children find families, and their goal is to have 8,000-10,000 children matched with or adopted by families by the year 2010. Sounds like a noble cause to me.

So, this upcoming Father's Day weekend, load up the van with your kids, the neighbor kids, Grandma, Grandpa, heck...even the dog if he likes Frostys. I don't think there's enough chocolate in one to do him any harm! At 50 cents a pop, Wendy's could donate quite a bit of money toward the Dave Thomas Foundation, and you can cool off from a hot summer day with the knowledge that you are doing something to benefit America's children.

For more information on foster care and adoption in America, read the foster care blog and the foster adoption blog.