Believe in Our Children, Open Your Heart and Your Home.

Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs to serve as brunch speaker

June 8, 2010 – (SOMERSET, NJ) – Harvest of Hope Family Services Network, Inc. is hosting a brunch to recognize the agency’s foster care and adoptive parents and Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs will be the featured speaker.

The brunch is from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, June 12 in the Fellowship Hall at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, 771 Somerset St.

“Without our foster and adoptive parents, Harvest of Hope would not exist. This annual brunch is an expression of our appreciation to them for their commitment to opening their hearts to children who need a temporary or permanent home,” said Maureen E. Archibald, executive director of Harvest of Hope.

Harvest of Hope was founded in 1997 and since then, 723 children have been placed in homes; 223 children have been adopted; 147 families have adopted children and 362 homes have been licensed. There are currently 135 homes with active licenses and Harvest of Hope has hit its goal of licensing 25 homes a year for the last three years.

Four-time Olympian Clark Diggs has been America’s premier middle distance runner for over three decades. Today, she serves as president of Joetta Sports & Beyond, LLC, where she spends her time delivering high-energy motivational seminars to athletic programs, businesses and other organizations across the country. Clark Diggs is also the host and producer of a cable fitness show for kids called Fitkidz, NJ.

Clark Diggs is expected to talk about her book “Joetta’s ‘P’ Principles for Success.”

“These are principles that anyone needs to be successful,” she said of the doctrines that include purpose, prepare, patience, perturbed and preserve.

Clark Diggs said she will tie in the principles to the process that foster care and adoptive parents experience.

The brunch is open to foster and adoptive parents across the state. A reservation is required to attend. To RSVP, e-mail HOH@harvestofhopefamily.com or call (732) 247-1270.

Harvest of Hope was founded in 1997 by Rev. Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens and CEO of the Central Jersey Community Development Corporation, parent company for Harvest of Hope. Its mission is to mobilize and utilize resources and advocate for policies that address the immediate and long-term needs of foster children. Harvest of Hope has licensed 355 families who have responded to the needs of children in the custody of the State of New Jersey. 

For more information, visit www.harvestofhopefamily.com or call (732) 247-1270.

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Tags: Harvest of Hope, Joetta Clark Diggs

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