About Us
Central Ohio Chapter of Families with Children from China (COFCC) is a non-profit and non-denominational organization of families who are in the process or have adopted or children from China in the Columbus Ohio area.

Our goals:
  • facilitate cultural awareness for our children
  • educate ourselves about China and adoption issues
  • assist others seeking to adopt children from China
  • support families who have adopted in China
  • provide support and information to prospective parents 

If your family has a child adopted from China or you are considering an adoption from China, you will find this membership to be a must have! 

COFCC offers a community of support and friendship for our members to network, share in Chinese culture events and to participate in education seminars.  COFCC also hosts a Yahoo group where members can ask questions about the process of adopting and share information about cultural and transracial issues.  Please consider joining COFCC if you feel you would like to meet other families like yours.

The current annual membership fee is $35 for families that are new to COFCC (choose "New Member") and this membership will prorate based on the date joined.  For renewals, current and past members the fee is also $35 if membership fees are paid between August 15th and September 15th.  If a membership is renewed outside of this window of time, the membership fee will be $45.  At this time, we do not pro-rate the Regular Family Membership and an up to date membership is required to attend our Chinese New Year event each year. 

Membership dues are collected annually and are due September 15th.
History of Central Ohio Families with Children from China has grown from a small group of six founding families in 1996 to a more than 200 member-families strong organization. Lorene Perkins founded COFCC in April of 1994 as one of the first central Ohioans to adopt a child from China. Through her work at Children's Hospital on the Adoption Basics Conference, Lorene gradually met other families in the process of Chinese Adoption.

In 1996, our group became official when Lorene applied for non-profit status. The following individuals were the first board members: President: Lorene Perkins, Vice President: Jane Castille, Secretary: Susan Coyle & Treasurer Jodi Fletcher. The first official COFCC meeting took place September 28, 1996, Lorene Perkins, Jane & Bob Castille, Robbin & Rodney Blough, Susan Coyle, Iris Pyzik, Debra Gnann, Orin & Hanci Newberry, Maureen Corcoran, Debbie Skarsten and Huei-Nin & Bill Johnson. We owe a debt of gratitude to these founding members.

Our mission today has not changed - to provide support to families in the pre-and post-adoption process, encourage friendships for families involved in the trans-cultural adoption and honor the Chinese heritage through arts, education & celebration. We are eternally grateful to Lorene and all of the founding members. Without their hard work and dedication our group would not be what it is today.
 
 
 Central Ohio Families With Children From China  is a 501(c)(3) Not-For-Profit organization