This year’s spectacular event had us soaring at the top of the Milwaukee skyline to celebrate adoption together. Guests were welcomed to the beautiful Jan Serr Studio by strings of enchanting lights and a triad of cookies at each place setting.

The memorable stage program brought us many laughs and thoughtful moments. Fox6 News’ Mary Stoker Smith did a remarkable job as emcee of the event once again, and even brought her amazing mother! Ella Stoker spoke about her experience as an adoptive parent and really opened our eyes to how much adoption has progressed in the past 50 years!

Our other fantastic speakers, Brett & Joe Lemoine-Hardenbrook and Nina Choudhuri, reminded us how rewarding the adoption journey can be for families of all types. Although Jordy & Emily Nelson weren’t able to attend the event this time around, they shared a touching video with the attendees. We are so appreciative of our amazing speakers and the time they took to share their stories with us. 

The honoree of the night was the laudable Judge Christopher Foley, who has made a tremendous impact on adoption in Wisconsin. He had some truly heart-warming stories to share with the 150+ attendees.

Guests had fun bidding on the silent auction items and anticipated sipping their winnings from the wine pull. The evening finished with a fantastic live auction, including awesome sports packages from Wisconsin’s big ones—Packers and Brewers and Bucks—Oh my!

Over $80,000 was raised at this year’s event thanks to generous sponsors, donors, volunteers, and attendees. It takes many hands and hearts for Touched by Adoption to be the incredible event it has become. We appreciate any continued support toward our goal of $125,000. All funds raised contribute to our mission of building loving families through adoption by supporting birth and adoptive families.