San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com"A Leap of Faith" 2010 calendar released at Chargers game
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Workers from San Diego County Adoptions handed out thousands of calendars, which feature Chargers players and 22 children who are waiting to find a permanent home.
November is National Adoption Month and to help kick off the month, Philip Rivers donated 10 tickets in the community corner section of the Q so some of the kids in the calendar could enjoy the game and celebrate the team's winning spirit on and off the field.
The players involved in the calendar donated their personal time to support the project, and News 8 would like to give them special thanks for their dedication.
It's a side of these Chargers players we're not used to seeing, players, like Antoine Cason, allowing themselves to let loose and be silly.
"He was a great sport and I said, hey take these cones and put it on your head, and I was just like, he's not going to do this, and he did it," laughed Sandy Huffaker.
Local photographer Sandy Huffaker also captured some very tender moments.
"I think in particular Luis Castillo was one that stood out," noted Sandy.
During the pre-season this year, 12 Chargers graciously volunteered their time to be part of the Leap of Faith 2010 Calendar.
"We love it. We love it to death. We enjoy it. These guys are so cute and they bring a smile to your heart and hopefully we can do the right thing by them and find them a home," said Castillo.
Luis Castillo, Philip Rivers and Jacques Cesaire are leap of faith veterans, appearing in every calendar featuring the Chargers and Adopt 8 kids, since the partnership began three years ago.
"It makes me feel blessed and privileged just to be able to have this type of impact on a child and, and on their lives. So, I feel very humbled and blessed to just be part of all this," said Cesaire.
"It really is awesome, thinking, you can help some kids, you know. Here are these four sisters, you know, help finding them a home uh, really, really an awesome thing," said Philip Rivers.
This year's calendar showcases Rivers and the sisters on the cover and each month through 2010 there is a different Chargers player featured with a child or sibling set who are waiting to find a family to call their own. It's a sad reality that's inspires all of these players to get involved in the project - especially the ones who are dads.
"It's really touching, cuz you think about your own four and the love and the care they're growing up in a loving family, and you wish that for all kids and know that's not the case," said Rivers.
The goal is that all of the children who grace the pages of the Leap of Faith 2010 Calendar will find permanent homes and that countless others just like them will find their forever families as well.
"It raises awareness about adoptions here in San Diego County. We have 80 to 100 kids looking for an adoptive home here in San Diego every day and this calendar project goes into people's homes, to their work, and it's just something to start talking about...raise awareness about adoption in the county and how easy it is," explained Nicole Champagne with San Diego County Adoptions.
The calendar is hoping to inspire people who are thinking about adopting, to take that leap of faith.
Eighty five percent of the children featured in the 2009 calendar have been adopted.
The 2010 calendar will be available free of charge to the public in the next couple of weeks at various locations around San Diego County. Once those distribution locations are revealed, they will be posted on the Adopt 8 page.
For more information about the adoption process, please call 1-877-I-ADOPT-U.
