Our Project Puzzle fundraiser is going great. I want to thank everyone who has generously donated to the fundraiser. So far we've raised $1335.00 ! Your contributions will directly help us bring our son home! He is currently at an orphanage in Uganda which has loving and caring house mothers but he is one of many children there. He deserves a warm bed and a mother and father dedicated to his well being and a family who will surround him with the love he needs to reach his true potential.
We are currently waiting on background investigations to be completed at the orphanage and we should hear very soon who this little one is that God has chosen for our family! It is our hope that when we get the call, or email, to accept his referral that we will be half way to our fundraising goal!
So without further ado....we have an awesome Give Away to offer. I attended a Noonday Collection trunk show a few weeks ago and fell in love with this little necklace!
All of Noonday Collection jewelery and gifts create opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers. Noonday has traveled the world in search of wonderful artisans working to better the lives of their families and have dedicated themselves to the ten standards of the World Fair Trade Organization.
Here's how the raffle will work.
For every Project Puzzle piece that is purchased, one raffle ticket will be entered to win. (For those of you who have already donated, I have you covered, you've already been entered!)
Buy one piece, you get one chance to win. Buy three pieces and you get three chances to win! How simple is that!
The drawing will be held on October 1st or when we sell the last piece of the puzzle!
Good luck and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the kinds words, prayers, and donations. We are humbled to have so many surround us with their support!
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PROJECT PUZZLE!!!!!!
We need to kick up the fundraising and this idea is so dang cute I couldn't pass it up. I didn't invent it but I put my own spin on it.
So here's the idea...
Anyway, once we get this gorgeous little guy's photo (which BTW, you won't see until we have him home and the adoption is final. I know boohoo, but it has to be that way) I'll upload his photo and blur out his face but I'll show you the progress of writing your names on the back of the pieces! It is so cool, I promise you. I know it sounds super dorky but just go with me on this one!
You...my friends and fam, if you will lovingly support our adoption efforts by purchasing pieces of the puzzle for either $10 a piece or whatever hefty donation you see fit, we'll write your names on the back each piece of puzzle you purchase.
Try to imagine how smart this little one is going to be after Todd gets a hold of him. Remember Todd teaches gifted ed....so you know he'll be reading early and he'll be able to read just how many puzzle pieces you bought to bring him home. No pressure, just saying.
As all our friends, family and who knows, perhaps people we may not even know! purchase puzzle pieces, we'll start constructing the puzzle. Once we have all 768 pieces put together, we'll glue the whole thing together and have an heirloom for his room with his beautiful face on the front and a testament on the back to all the many names of people who prayed about him and worked to bring him home.
I hope you can imagine the puzzle. I'll post pictures as it starts to come together.
This is an easy fundraiser. It is soooooo cute. SO easy. And, man alive, the math couldn't be easier.
768 pieces x $10 = $7680
And remember, you are not obligated to ONLY donated $10 per piece, please! By all means, feel free to bump that up to whatever you feel called to. Perhaps this is the only fundraiser we'll have to do!
Since I'm not that smart with blogging and Pay Pal yet and I haven't gotten all tricky with the buttons...you can just click on the Donate button on the right hand margin....yep, you see it up there. Give me another couple a days, and I'll figure something fancy fer ya to look at! Thanks, for now though, you're the best!
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Well, there it is.... The word every potential adoptive parent must face eventually. Fundraising. There are two ways this will go.
1. The family can scrimp, save, go into debt, and cause all kinds of family financial chaos and fund the adoption themselves.
2. The family can turn to their community and humbly ask for help saying, yes, we love this child half way around the world and we are committed to him. We will provide for his daily needs, his education and his medical needs, etc. but we need help bringing him home.
Adoption, whether domestic or international is estimated to cost between $18K - $25K. WHAT?! You say, it can't be true. When there are so many children needing homes, why is the cost so high?
I'd like to briefly outline the costs because I think it will make more sense.
Homestudy $1,100
Fingerprinting $100
I600A application $800
Attorney fees $5,000
Airline $7,000
Court fees $500
Med Screenings $100
Agency (If there is one) $5,000
Baby Home Donation $1,000
Lodging/Meals $3,000
So the adage, It Takes A Village, is spot on. It is going to take a village to bring this little miracle home. With our first adoption, we didn't know adoption fundraising was an option and, frankly, there wasn't time. Remember his adoption took two weeks total from time of referral to baby in arms! We were amazingly blessed and too busy with a newborn to worry about those pesky bills piling up in the corner. But unfortunately we can attest to the financial strain $20K will put on a family's budget for years to come and we think there's a better way.
A way we can involve those who would love to help an orphan but who perhaps are not in the position to adopt themselves. We have committed $5,000 ourselves to the adoption and have set a goal to raise $15,000 in donations. We have a couple of fundraisers in mind to help with that goal.
