FCC Toronto organizes regular activities for its membership, including a Chinese New Year's banquet, summer picnic, Autumn Moon celebration and evenings for parents-in-waiting.

PRE-ADOPTION GET-TOGETHERS

These get-togethers are organized on an irregular basis, usually at the home of a recent adoptive family, and offer parents-in-waiting the opportunity to learn about some of the practicalities of the China adoption experience with parents who've "been there, done that". Check your newsletter for details of upcoming events.

2008 - JANE BROWN'S ADOPTION PLAYSHOPS

Playshops for the children as well as for the parents. September 19-21, 2008 in Mississauga. Advance registration only. More information and registration form are available here as a PDF file. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free.

2008 FCC TORONTO CULTURE CAMP

The 9th Annual Culture Camp of FCC Toronto will be held this year from August 25-29, 2008 at the Chinese Cultural Centre in Toronto. More details and a registration form are available here as a PDF file. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free.

FCC FAMILY CONNECTIONS PROGRAM

In partnership with the Chinese Cultural Centre, FCC Toronto is pleased to announce the Family Connections Program. The program will match our FCC families with families of newly arrived families from China, giving our children the opportunity to learn more about their birth culture, while at the same time assisting new Chinese-Canadian families in adapting to their new homes.

Once your family is matched with a family recently arrived from China, you'll have an opportunity to get together for dinner, kids events, or other activities. FCC and the CCC will also be organizing group events where all the participating families can meet together.

FCC and the CCC will be matching FCC families with the families from China based on a number of factors, including location of residence, birthplace of adopted child, age of children and recreational interests. On the application form, you can indicate which of these criteria are most important to your family.

The Chinese Cultural Centre currently has a list of new families who are interested in our program. We're pleased that there has been such an overwhelming response from our FCC families, but this means that not all families can be matched right away and those who have indicated specific matching criteria may have to wait longer. The Chinese Cultural Centre is in the process of identifying more Chinese families for the program and anticipates that it will be able to do so without much difficulty. We will keep everyone informed as new Chinese families sign up for the program.

FCC families in the program will be encouraged to get together with their partner family as often as you feel comfortable. The aim is for the families to get to know each other by participating in activities together and FCC will facilitate by providing suggestions of interesting activities within the Chinese and Canadian communities. FCC parents and children can learn about Chinese life and culture, and the newly arrived families will have a link to an established Canadian family.

If you're interested in being part of this program, please fill out the Family Connections Program application form, available as a PDF file. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free. The application form can be mailed to Lorne Slotnick at 441 Grace Street, Toronto M6G 3A8 or faxed to Lorne at 416-534-7945. For an electronic version, you can e-mail Lorne. The next step will be FCC and the CCC working together to match up families according to the matching criteria you have requested.

If you have any questions about the program or wish to become more involved by helping to plan group events, please contact Lorne Slotnick at 416-254-8943 or via e-mail.