Profiles in Love

Over the past 99 years, we've seen too many success stories to count. Below is just one. It is the story of the Fontana family of Buffalo, N.Y. We are sure you'll be moved by their very special "Profile in Love."

The Fontanas: A Loving Family + 2

There is no such thing as a family with too much love to give, especially when children are involved. A fantastic example of that is the Fontana family, which, through the Summer Victories program, added two more place settings to an already crowded dinner table.

After the births of children Vinny and Maria, Frank and Chris Fontana decided that they had room for another smiling face. They decided to adopt a child, but, over the course of the next 10 years, Chris and Frank found out that the adoption process isn't always an easy one.

"We got real close a few times, but it seemed something would always happen, the process would always hit some sort of snag," Frank recalls. "We were getting increasingly frustrated and we began to doubt whether this was meant to be."

In April, Frank learned about the Summer Victories program through his employer at the time, Wendy's Restaurants. Deeply involved in adoption and foster care throughout the country, Wendy's was serving as a co-sponsor at a local fundraiser for the program. The excited couple seized their chance and enthusiastically enrolled.

Weeks later, the Fontanas and three other families eagerly awaited the arrival of the Russian orphans who would be sharing their homes during the six-week program. When brother and sister Ivan and Victoria stepped off the plane, Chris and Frank knew their lives had changed forever.

Excited but timid, Victoria and Ivan fit in as well as can be expected. Despite the challenges of a language barrier and culture shock, the family could sense something deep within these children, something that went beyond borders and political ideology. It was love.

"We learned pretty quickly that there were other ways to reach out to them besides language," says Frank. "I think they understood how much they meant to us and what we wanted to provide them with -- a loving and stable environment."

As the summer went on, both Frank and Chris, as well as Vinny and Maria, had taken to the two gifted orphans (Victoria the artist and Ivan the athlete), and, at the end of the six weeks, the children boarded a plane back to Russia, although temporarily -- the decision had already been made to permanently add the pair to the Fontana family.

As soon as the adoption process was complete, it was time for Frank and Chris to make it official. They traveled to Russia that Christmas, and were happily reunited with the anxious pair. Days later, the four returned to the United States, eager to share each other's love, but also knowing well that these two precious children had been given a new lease on life. A better one.

"Not only did this program give us the chance to add to our family," says Frank. "but it has given Ivan and Victoria a whole new life -- a much better one -- and a very real opportunity for them to achieve their dreams, which for them, probably seemed so distant just a few months ago."

 "I think they understood how much they meant to us and what we
wanted to provide -- a loving environment." -- Frank Fontana


BVS Adoption Program / 780 Ridge Road / Lackawanna, N.Y. 14218
(716) 828-9510 or (888) 287-9986
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