“It takes a village” is more than a saying for 48-year-old Lamont Thomas, it’s a mandate. Last month, the single dad adopted five children under the age of six so the siblings could stay together.

Thomas has fostered over two dozen children in Buffalo, New York over the last 20 years, Good Morning America reports. With the adoption of Michaela, 1, Major, 2, Nakia, 3, Jamel, 4, and Zendaya, 5, he officially has 12 children, 10 whom he’s adopted and two biological.

“Every day I think about it, my eyes swell up. All that we endured to make this happen, it was something,” Thomas told GMA.

Initially he started taking in kids to help friends who had lost their children to the system. Then he got certified to be able to intervene and assist in an official capacity as a foster parent.

After two decades of fostering, Thomas found himself as an empty nester and thought he was finished caring for small children. However, when he learned that five kids of a man he once fostered were not only in the system, but were also split up across four cities, he knew what he had to do. He renewed his certification and applied to foster them with the intent to adopt.

“I wanted to make a difference by being a difference, and I love what I do,” he said in an interview with GMA.

Two years after fostering the sisters and brothers, the adoption was made official last month.

“They bring new energy to me. They’re lovable kids, very affectionate,” he said. “They deserve to be raised as siblings, and that was my fight.”

Thank you for fighting to make a difference Mr. Thomas!