You know, for kids

We wanted to pass along some information given to us by a faithful reader about a great event taking place this week:

WHAT: The Heart Gallery of Central Texas, an art exhibit featuring portraits of more than 100 Central Texas children who are waiting to be adopted from foster care, premieres August 25 in Austin with a gala at SPAZIO by Lytle Pressley.

A project of the Adoption Coalition of Texas and CASA of Travis County, the Heart Gallery of Central Texas is both an art exhibit and community education effort. It is made possible by more than 55 renowned documentary and portrait photographers who volunteered hundreds of hours to photograph area children who are living in foster care and waiting for adoption.

Gala proceeds benefit the Adoption Coalition of Texas, a collaborative effort of five private nonprofit child-placing agencies and Child Protective Services, working together to find forever families for abused and neglected children waiting for adoption.

WHEN & WHERE: The Heart Gallery of Central Texas Premiere Gala

Thursday August 25, 2005, at 6:30 p.m.

SPAZIO by Lytle Pressley
1214 W. 6th Street
Austin, Texas 78701

Tickets are $25

WHY: Everyday 500 Central Texas children who were abused or neglected are waiting to be adopted from foster care. Each month, another 30 children currently living in foster care become eligible for adoption, which happens when a parent's or parents' legal rights are terminated. Many children are older or have special needs, are minorities or members of a sibling group. All are considered hard-to-place children.

The Heart Gallery of Central Texas creates a window into the worlds of these children's lives and aims to elicit public support for and interest in adoption from foster care.

For more information, visit The Heart Gallery of Texas website.