With Horrific Violence Against Children in Headlines, Adoption Awareness Walk Set for May 17 in South Jersey

An event that seeks to connect those who want children with children in need comes at a time in which violence against children by their biological parents is in the headlines.

Golden Cradle’s Adoption Awareness Walk in South Jersey on Sunday, May 17, comes on the heels of the discovery of a deceased fetus discovered on a conveyor belt at a Camden recycling plant Thursday afternoon. On Friday, an autopsy revealed that the fetus was unable to breathe, and died due to extreme immaturity.

Camden County Police and the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office are still investigating the death.

About three months ago, a woman allegedly burned her baby alive shortly after giving birth in Burlington County.

It appears as though Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier gave birth at home before taking the baby to a road in Pemberton and allegedly set her on fire.

This case brought attention to the Safe Haven Law, which states “the parents or someone acting on their behalf can bring a baby less than 30 days old to any hospital emergency room or police station. The New Jersey Department of Children and Families will take the infant into custody and place the infant with a foster or pre-adoptive home.”

A social worker from Trenton who lives in Burlington County says there is more awareness of the law in North Jersey. She was distributing literature at a memorial service for the infant, later named Angel Dorvilier.

The Safe Haven Law was passed in 2000, and while the incidents of abandoned babies has gone down, the two examples from this year are not isolated incidents.

In 2012, a Galloway man was found guilty of murder by throwing his three-month old daughter off a bridge on the Garden State Parkway.

Over a two-day period last year, an Atlantic City woman was charged with with aggravated assault after she allegedly threw her infant into the water in Atlantic City and a Camden man was charged with murder in the death of his nine-week old son.

There are other cases in South Jersey, but incidents are not confined to South Jersey.

A deceased baby was also found on a conveyor belt in California in 2013, and West Yorskhire in December.

Child abuse was given a national face last year when Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was charged with child abuse for hitting his 4-year-old son with a switch.

But there is another side. While these alleged crimes have made headlines in recent years, there are people looking for children in need of parents to raise as their own. These are the people the Adoption Awareness Walk seeks to reach.

Golden Cradle Adoption Services is aiming to raise awareness about all adoption options during the walk at Cooper River Park on May 17, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. at the Victims of Terrorism Memorial.

The walk includes a 3.8 mile loop and a 1.35 mile loop around the river.

Golden Cradle is a non-profit adoption agency that has a long history of providing caring and personalized services for children, birth families and adoptive parents. The agency is Hague Accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), and is licensed in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

It is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.

“We have been a pillar in the adoption community since 1980,” Tay Walker-Valery, Executive Director of Golden Cradle Adoption Services, said. “We remain committed to helping our clients complete their families through the gift of adoption. We work one-on-one with our clients, as they develop a plan to create forever families. I have a great team, and I am blessed to have an amazing visionary board that is committed to shaping the future of the agency.”

She said this includes “innovative strategies for re-branding, marketing, community outreach and diversifying our services.”

The group is also recruiting new board members, Walker-Valery said.

There will be a raffle with a ton of prizes available.

To learn more, visit www.goldencradle.org or call 856-428-1180.

Attendees can register online, or they can pay at the registration table on the day of the event. T

he registration fee is $30 for adults, $15 for children between the ages of 5-18.

The event is free for children under the age of 5.

The attached image was posted on goldencradle.org.