In celebration of ATN’s 2016 Angels in Adoption award, we’re profiling ATN members who have helped ATN win the award — and who have themselves been Angels to families and children.
By: Julie Beem
This photo of Pepsi caps won’t mean much to you unless you were actively involved in ATN in 2010 – like Tanya Bowers-Dean was. Tanya is a true ATN Angel. My most distinct memory (too bad she isn’t in this photo) is Tanya sitting at my kitchen table near all these caps, with her laptop logging in the codes from hundreds upon hundreds of Pepsi caps on the last day of the Pepsi Challenge – – the day ATN won one of the $50,000 grants. Tanya had taken a day of vacation from work for the incredibly monotonous job of entering Pepsi codes!
It was incredibly fun, though, to have someone to share the giddy excitement as we approached the midnight deadline so far ahead that we were assured a grant!!!!
Tanya started volunteering for ATN in 2006 – that was the year we held our first Traumatized Children Conference in Atlanta. Tanya was instrumental in that conference and went on to be the chairperson of the next two conferences – in Kansas City in 2007 and Boston in 2008.
Tanya’s organizational and administrative skills are unmatched – and she used all her gifts for ATN. She was famous on the Board for keeping us on track. When we would digress and start talking about our children, the latest crisis, etc – she would kindly, but firmly remind us to “get to work” because we had such limited time!
Tanya lives in the Atlanta area like me – I loved meeting in for coffee to talk over ATN business! Hey, Tanya – it’s been too long – how about a coffee to catch up?
Can you think of someone who has been an ATN Angel? Join the celebration by sending us your nomination here: https://www.attachmenttraumanetwork.org/atnangel/.
