Last October, two significant things happened to me that heightened my adoption awareness (and neither had to do with Madonna or Angelina Jolie): My best friend since ninth grade told me she'd applied to be an adoptive parent, and we featured the Simons family on the cover of Plymouth Magazine. KSTP's Rod Simons and his wife, Pam, adopted their daughter, Annie, in 2005, and since then they've become passionate about making adoption succeed for families in the upper Midwest, just as its been a huge success for them.

Tomorrow, I'm thrilled to be able to take my new little girl (not adopted, but still a gift) to the second in what Rod hopes will be an annual golf fundraiser at Troy Burne in Hudson. For more information on this highly meaningful cause, check out the website, golfforthegift.com.