Forever Family named finalist for Anthem Award in ceremony’s inaugural year

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Forever Family is nominated for a 2022 Anthem Award in the award ceremony’s inaugural year.

The awards - presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts & Science, best-known for the internet honors The Webbys - are intended to celebrate the mission-driven work and social impact of individuals, corporations, and organizations.

The winners, to be announced Feb. 15, will be honored at a virtual awards show on Feb. 28 in conjunction with the first Anthem Voices conference to showcase the winners’ work and share philanthropic and social impact ideas.

The awards will be celebrating and championing work across seven core purposes: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion; Education, Art, and Culture; Health; Human & Civil Rights; Humanitarian Action & Services; Responsible Technology; and Sustainability, Environment, and Climate.

Forever Family is nominated within the Humanitarian Action & Services category for Best Local Awareness Program.

Organizers say a portion of program revenue entrants will fund a new grant program supporting emerging individuals and organizations working to advance the causes recognized in the inaugural Anthem Awards.

With nearly 2,500 submissions from 36 countries around the world and 10,000 reviews, the inaugural Anthem Award Finalists were announced Tuesday.

Forever Family is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping children and teens in foster care find permanent, loving homes.

Together with its sponsors and media partners, the organization focuses on raising awareness throughout communities about the struggles and misconceptions surrounding kids and teens in foster care, while connecting families with their local foster care agencies.

With over $45 million in airtime donated to raise awareness and viewer impressions totaling more than 40 million annually, the organization’s efforts have generated thousands of inquiries, resulting in thousands of adoptions, new foster family sign-ups, and volunteers.

WBTV’s former chief meteorologist Eric Thomas, who retired at the end of 2021, has worked tirelessly through the “Forever Family” series, produced in partnership with Seven Homes.

Eric has worked to bring awareness about the great need for adoption to WBTV viewers Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. on Primetime.

Forever Family news stories highlight children in foster care searching for adoptive families, teens ‘aging out’ of foster care, and issues relating to the American foster care crisis.

Forever Family Founder and CEO Gia Tutalo-Mote spoke on how it feels to be recognized on a world stage for the work done at Forever Family.

“Seeing Forever Family recognized on a world stage absolutely means so much for our children, and the thousands of children languishing around the world without families, without a voice, will finally be seen,” Tutalo-Mote said.

Tutalo-Mote also spoke on the importance of the relationships that help get kids and teens adopted out of foster care.

“Forever Family is not a one-person show. Forever Family truly takes a village, and the impact, Eric Thomas has had on the lives of the children he’s spent time with and featured on Forever Family, and the hundreds of viewers who have now created forever families of their own after being inspired by Eric’s heartfelt love for these children, it’s impossible to put that kind of impact into words,” Tutalo-Mote said.

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