National Adoption Day is observed in the United States and Puerto Rico every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This event focuses on children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted. The first National Adoption Day took place in 2000, initiated by a coalition of organizations including the Children's Action Network and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. The sponsors collaborate with state foster care agencies, child advocates, law firms, and courts to finalize adoptions, and since its inception, over 54,000 children have transitioned from foster care to permanent families. In 2014, events were held in more than 400 cities across the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to celebrate these adoptions. Currently, there are over 100,000 children in foster care in the U.S., with California and New York having the largest populations. The aim of National Adoption Day is to provide forever families for as many children as possible, addressing the significant number of kids who age out of the foster care system each year without a permanent home.