Ziggy Named Honorary Member of Foster Parent Group

By: E&P Staff The National Foster Parent Association has made the Ziggy cartoon character an honorary NFPA member, according to Universal Press Syndicate.

Ziggy's membership follows his involvement as the 2006 "spokescharacter" for the NFPA. Cartoonist Tom Wilson spread the word about National Foster Care Month through a series of "Ziggy" comics that premiered this month. Wilson will also team with the Andrews McMeel Foundation to present Ziggy's Gift, a scholarship for a college-bound foster child who's aging out of the system.

NFPA executive director Karen Jorgenson said in a statement: "Ziggy is always determined to weather the storm until things get better and that is the kind of attitude that we want to convey to our children and youth living in foster care. At the same time, he is a character that reaches out with a helping hand when one is needed, just like our dedicated foster parents."

The "Ziggy" comic, which turns 35 next month, appears in more than 600 newspapers via Universal.