"lingyang"="adopt"

My fellow Floridian Dave Thomas seemed like an interesting guy, as far as CEOs of fast-food giants go (no, not this Floridian Dave Thomas, but the one with the daughter named Wendy). His was the first burger joint to offer a salad bar. And he was the founder of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

You may have read about the foundation over on my Russian Adoption colleague's blog.

You may also have hit that "Hey, does my company give me family leave for an adoption?" wall in the past (or be heading toward it at a high rate of speed right now). Would you like to be able to ask for some benefits? Keep reading for some things to show the folks in charge - whether they happen to be your bosses or the bosses of other people like you. We gotta hang together.

• You can buy stuff from Dow Corning, which is one of those ethically ambiguous megacorps, but also the number one adoption-friendly company in the U.S.A.
  
  This is not difficult; Dow Corning is involved with everything. Alternately, you could just write them a nice "good job!" letter. Their address:
  
  2200 W. Salzburg Rd.
  Midland, MI 48640-8531
  
  
  



• You could also do the same with any of the companies on the foundation's list, which include giants like Coca-Cola and Monsanto (eek!) but also the Miami Herald, Tom's of Maine and Molson Coors Brewing. We drive a Mitsubishi at home. And now we can feel even better about that. (I'll have to talk with management about our family's flagging support for Mercedes Benz, as well.)
  
  



• If you'd like your company to be one of those companies (for purely selfless reasons, of course), you could follow this Business Week blogger's example.
  
  She made some changes at McGraw-Hill. Just another employee. You can too. Follow the links on her site.
  
  You can also print out a copy of this Washington Post article and nail it to your Human Resources Department door. Or maybe just forward the link. Nice explanation of why an adoption-support policy is a profitable decision.
  
  



• While I'm in a spending mood, though, I'd also buy albums by Sheryl Crow and Lucy Kaplansky, who aren't actually companies in and of themselves, but sort of count as independent contractors or corporate entities as well as adoptive moms and, besides, you might just find your new favorite song. I'm especially fond of Kaplansky - the stuff she did with CryCryCry is great.