Located in the Southern Tier - Greater Binghamton Region.  We're open to NY & PA families.

The STAF STAFF

Christina Bangel
Co-President

Christina Bangel, Co-president

My husband Alan and I are the proud parents of twin boys, Johnathan and Joseph Bangel. The boys were domestically adopted as newborns in March 2005.  We have an open adoption and have had the privilege of developing a relationship with our sons’ birth family.  We also have two adult children.  Quite ironically, we have just recently become new grandparents of…twins!  In addition to being parents and grandparents, I am a teacher and my husband is a retired teacher (who is now a stay at home dad).   

Alan and I have been involved with STAF since before we even were matched with the boys' birthmother!  We heard about the group and knew that we needed some support and fellowship as we started our adoption journey. We made a lot of new friends and definitely got the support we needed. We have had the joy of watching our children grow up with several other children who joined the group as infants. I just love watching them run around together, a beautiful rainbow of children! We also wanted to be involved with a diverse group of children. Our children already have an appreciation of the differences between us, and the knowledge that color and ethnicity are only skin deep.

I am proud to be a part of a group like STAF, and I look forward to all of our upcoming events. Please join us!

Cheryl Botts
Co-President

I am happy and proud to be serving this year on the board of Southern Tier Adoptive Families. My focus as co-president will be providing adoption related information to adoptive parents, prospective adoptive parents, and other community members.  I want to provide support to those who have chosen or are thinking of choosing to adopt a child.  I hope to see this group thrive, grow and reach out to those in the community who benefit through involvement with STAF.  I am eager to pass on your ideas for STAF as well.

I am married to Rick Kugler.  We are both teachers.  Rick teaches English and I teach Spanish.  Our son Nico came into our lives on Sept. 23^rd of 2006 after we saw his two and a half week week old picture.  We fell in love immediately.  “It was his eyes” Rick and I will both say—his eyes spoke to us and we knew.  Just 3 months later we were in Guatemala , holding him in our arms for the first time.   The rest is history.  Nico is now three years old. 

We first joined STAF as a “couple without a child” in 2006.  I have felt the group was a catalyst and safe haven of support for me as we moved into the adoption option.  At an informational meeting I met many parents who had already adopted, those who were in the process and also those thinking about it. I also met many professionals, some of whom later ended up helping me in the process.  After making the decision to adopt, we had to decide whether to adopt internationally or domestically, and then choose an agency.  The adoption option is certainly a test of one’s ability to touch base within one’s heart and ask the BIG questions and listen!  We ended up changing our minds and hearts along the way, switching paths and agencies, but in the end it was all perfect. 

Treasurer
Kim Hayden

Kim Hayden, treasurer

I am proud to represent a board that supports my role as an adoptive mother.  I am returning again this year to serve on the STAF board as treasurer.  As we start this year with several new faces to our board, I am grateful to past board members who provided a foundation for this group.   I look forward to continuing their work with new ideas and renewed excitement for Southern Tier Adoptive Families.

My daughters Zoe (age 5) and Maya (age 4) are biological sisters from Guatemala , and each day I look at them I am still in awe of my good fortune.  Today it seems natural that they are a part of my life, but I remember well that my journey to this world of adoption was not all that smooth.  Through this group I have met many who have shared similar stories.  While we honor our histories and struggles, we now rejoice in watching our children play at the events, knowing that yes, these are the children we were meant to raise!  I joined this group initially for my girls so they would feel a bond with other children who too have been adopted.  What we have found is a connection for our whole family.  My husband Michael and I are renewed in our adoption decision every time we partake in an event and we are again reminded that our children are such special gifts.

My profession is art therapy, and I have worked for 17 years with United Health Services.  I also teach at Marywood University in the art therapy program.  I enjoy making art, spending time with family, and traveling. 

Secretary
Cheryl Wheeler

Adoption is near and dear to my heart, and it is my privilege to serve on the STAF board as secretary.  I have attended STAF events for the past four years, and I am excited about the opportunity to contribute both to the STAF organization and the to all of the local adoptive community. 

I am a single adoptive parent and at this time I have one child, Benjamin, age 4, who was adopted from Guatemala .  We especially like taking trips, camping, and enjoying the outdoors.  I am also currently in process waiting to adopt a little girl from El Salvador .  During the long wait, I’ll be preparing by brushing up on my knowledge of toddler adoption, and attempting to learn some basic Spanish.  I am an elementary music teacher and have taught in the UE district for 18 years.  My students frequently sing in Spanish!

The path to my children has taken a lot of turns long the way.  Before adopting, I explored foster care and accompanied a close friend to China when she adopted her daughter.  Eventually I knew for sure I wanted to parent, and I chose to adopt from Guatemala .  My son came home at 11 months old.  Before he came home, I cared for him in Guatemala for 2 ½ months.  Following my son’s adoption, I sadly watched the program in Guatemala come to a close, which meant I would need to follow a different route for a second child.  I chose Vietnam , because it seemed like a “safe and secure” process, but while my paperwork was waiting in Vietnam , that program also closed.  So much for predictability in adoption.  At that point I turned from international adoption to domestic adoption.  Along the way, out of the blue, I learned of a little girl in El Salvador that an agency I had worked with was looking to place.  They asked me if I was interested.  How could I not be interested?  I did a little homework and said yes.  Perhaps our children have a way of finding us.  I can’t wait to get her home.