During the 2024 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids® Summit, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption recognized Cyndi, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter with Bethany Christian Services in Georgia, as a Recruiter of the Year. Cyndi greets everyone with warmth and optimism, creating lasting bonds of support with the youth she serves.
Through our Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program, the Foundation supports the hiring of adoption recruiters, like Cyndi, who are dedicated to finding permanent families for the longest-waiting children in foster care. That includes teenagers, children with special needs and siblings.
These professionals use an evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model to find the right family for every child in their care. A rigorous, five-year evaluation revealed that children referred to the program are up to 3x more likely to be adopted.
“This job gives me a sense of purpose,” said Cyndi, who has been a recruiter for nearly a decade. “Just knowing that we’ve made a family. That feels like all the purpose I need right now.”
Whether it is answering an unexpected phone call or traveling across the country to reunite a youth with their biological mother, Cyndi has pushed past her “recruiter” title by becoming one of the most trusted relationships in their lives.
“She is the one who shows up for them if no one else is able to,” shared Corinna, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids supervisor.
Congratulations, Cyndi, and thank you for your commitment to serving children lingering in foster care who are too often overlooked.
You can join the Foundation in recognizing the life-changing work of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids adoption professionals, like Cyndi, by sending them a thank you note.
