Fundraising trifecta

When our file (dossier) was officially submitted to the Haitian children's services the first half of the international program fee was due.  This pays for orphanage expenses and governmental fees for processing the adoption in Haiti and here.  Since we are now adopting siblings half of this fee was $15,800! Gulp, deep breath.  The other half, another $15,800, will be do in about 6-8 months from the time that file/dossier was submitted, which was August 12 for us.  So, if you're doing the math, in 4-6 months time this large sum will be do and we will also plan our trip to meet the kiddos which is estimated to require an additional $5000 for the two week stay in Haiti.  There will be further expenses beyond that while we wait to be able to actually bring them home.  I won't list these further expenses in detail- but in total, from today we have approximately $26,000 left to pay.  In the past four years of this adoption journey we have paid over $38,000.  While we had very generous giving in our previous fundraisers, the vast majority of that was from our own savings. 

I had a wonderful conversation with our adoption agency just this week and was told that the likelihood that our wait will probably be quicker than the usual wait time of 6-8 (which, as I wrote above is already down to 4-6 months!).  This absolutely thrilled me given how long this adoption has been taking!  However, we do not have the money to pay for the rest of the expenses.  You see, if we had continued with Ethiopia it would have been at least three years and only one child.  We knew that when we switched to Haiti we would not have that time to save, but we felt sure that God was still asking us to take this leap of faith and trust Him to provide.  We have already had some VERY generous contributions and are in the process of applying for numerous grants, I mean numerous!  We know that this is in God's hands, but many of these nonprofit groups have already indicated that our income puts us outside of the usual "demonstrates need" pool of families applying for assistance.  However, we are in that income bracket that sets us apart from the families that can fully fund their own adoption, especially in our given time frame.

So, here we go-------

Fundraiser #1

We still have t-shirts leftover from the original sale.  Unfortunately, there are no smalls left or any size greater than XL.  If the interest is there, we can have this printed again, but I learned my lesson the first time around- do not order t-shirts you do not yet have orders for!  For this reason, we have the following available: 10 mediums, 9 larges, and 3 XL's.  These would also make great Christmas gifts- I even have a tag made up to enclose with them explaining our "cause." See the paypal button at the right to order one or if you live near I can just bring me one, just leave me a comment.

Fundraiser #2

Our cousin (actually Jason's), Shannon, is an ambassador for a company called Noonday Collection.  As Shannon has shared, this company's mission is "to create economic opportunities in developing countries. We do this by creating marketplace for our artisan's handmade, fair trade accessories! I've visited groups in South Africa, Haiti and Guatemala and I can testify to what a huge difference this work is making in their lives! Dignified work provides food, clean water, education, and helps families stay together."  The women in these countries make gorgeous jewelry and accessories that are made available at Noonday's trunk and catalog shows.  Shannon was hosting a party at our adoption agency this week and when she discovered our ties there she offered to give 20% of the sales to our adoption.  So, this means you can support our kids in Haiti and women around the world trying to provide for their own kids!  Win-Win.  I recently had another dear friend host a show at her house and Noonday sent $100 to our agency for our adoption.  All of the items would make wonderful Christmas presents!  Here's the catch- you only have until Sunday so head over to her web site at www.shannonriesenfeld.noondaycollection.com and enter "America World" at check out so the funds will go towards our adoption!

 Fundraiser #3

I debated over this one a ton, but I'm gonna bite the bullet and host another garage sale!  We would love any donations those living near would like to bring over or have us pick up!  We hope to have this on Saturday, November 8- while the weather is nice.  We would also love to sell baked goods with coffee for our "shoppers," so this another way you could help. 

 

While this is humbling, I am excited to see how the Lord choses to bring His children to a forever family and thank you all for loving them before we even know them!

 

Stay tuned, I have some other opportunities for later if they work out!