By Abigail Loop
Staff Writer

Generations Adoptions has served the Waco community for 10 years, connecting children in need with families, and Saturday a gala will raise awareness to its cause.

At 6 p.m. in the Baylor Club at McLane Stadium, the Hope Gala will act as a fundraiser for the agency to help alleviate the costs of adoption services for Waco families and further their counseling services for pregnant women.

Generations Adoptions is a local Christian agency specializing in permanent adoptive families for children from around the world and counseling support services for women throughout their pregnancies.

Cathy Sones, executive director of Generations Adoptions, said the gala is the agency’s biggest fundraising celebration each year and she is expecting this year to be even better because it will be at the Baylor Club.

“We usually make around $100,000 in funds at the gala and this year we are hoping to raise more,” Sones said. “It’s so much work for families going through adoption, but seeing the happy families and faces this night is worth it.”

Sones said the night will begin with food catered by the Baylor Club, while silent and live auctions commence. Items such as MacBooks and iPads will be available in the silent auction. The live auction will offer trips to places such as Colorado and free baseball tickets to Major League Baseball and Baylor basketball games. At 7 p.m., the audience will hear testimonials from birth mothers and adoptive families.

“People just really enjoy it a lot,” Sones said. “This is a fundraiser to keep adoption affordable for real people. Many children need a family. Children who’ve been orphaned come from hard places and a family helps them find healing.”

According to the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families, in 2012 there were 13,148 children in Texas waiting to be adopted and the number continues to rise.

Sones said the Hope Gala is looking to bring more of these orphaned children into loving homes and lower the number of children in need.

Lydia Mathis, a board member of Generations Adoptions, said besides raising money for the agency at the gala, the best way to also help children into families is to raise awareness to the adoption agency itself.

“The greatest thing is that is letting us become visible to the community,” Mathis said. “We want to expose ourselves and do this while we also accomplish are goals of raising funds.”

Although tables for the fundraising gala are all already sold, individual tickets are still available for $40. To inquire about purchasing a ticket, call 254-741-1633.