Fundraising Update—the Home Stretch

Many have asked about how our adoption is looking on a financial front and how our fundraising is going. Let us just say that we have been so blessed by so many of you! God has met our need in a way that we could not have expected! The funds from our adoption have come from many different places and people, and we are so honored that God has met us at the place of our biggest insecurity about adoption—how to pay for it!

Here is a little recap of some of the many things that have come together to help make our adoption of Micah and Aubrey possible:

v  We started out way back in February of last year, using Craigslist to sell many personal items
from around our house. We were able to raise enough money by doing that to cover the cost of our home study ($1,500).

v  After that we were blessed by many friends who gave on YouCaring to help us kick-off our fundraising in a big way. We raised $2,537.

v  In the spring, we held an adoption luncheon at New Beginnings and invited friends and family to join us. We shared our story of how God brought us to adoption and ate some yummy food. Through the blessings of those who attended, we raised another $2,655.

v  Over the summer we have sold craft items (some that have been donated to us and some that we have made) here in Meadville at the Second Saturday at the Markethouse, and we also sent our craft items to North Carolina where Cliff’s sisters and mom sold for us too. So far we have raised $1,189 towards the cost of our adoption through the sale of these craft items which include: Sawyer’s crayons, duct tape items, terrariums, bibs, aprons, adoption tshirts, and hair bows.

                

v  In addition to that, we had a car wash with the help of friends which brought in $191.

v  Many people have come together to do fundraisers for our family including a Miche party, 31 party, Silpada party, two change drives, a woman’s tea, a gun raffle, a garage sale, a spaghetti dinner, and a golf outing. All of these have brought in a total of $6,835.32. I won’t mention names here because I’m afraid I would leave someone out! But, you know who you are and so does the Lord. You have each given of your time and energy and we thank you.

v  Many people have also supported our adoption through giving tax-deductible donations through Reece’s Rainbow, including a precious class of fifth graders and their teacher from a school in Georgia whom we have never met. You have all greatly blessed us with $6,827.62 toward the cost of our adoption.

v  Finally, we have had many individuals who have supported us with cash donations throughout the months. Some have come in the mail with precious notes of encouragement. Some have been slipped into our hands with a pat on the back and the words “this is a little something to help you bring those babies home.” Some have been dollar bills slipped into our donation jar at our craft table. Some have even been people who have come to our home and prayed over us and our children, in anticipation of what is to come. All in all, these donations have come to $5,371.50, and we are so very thankful.

So, if all of those things are totaled up, that brings us to a grand total of $27,106.4! This money has been used to pay for all of our in-country adoption fees through About a Child, our USCIS fees, our homestudy, our travel for our first trip, and all of the many “smaller” fees associated with adoption such as fingerprints, passports, apostilles, medical updates, visas, etc. 

We are in the home stretch now but we’re not quite there yet. To be fully funded, our final needs have to do with our travel to bring Aubrey and Micah home. The cost of this will largely depend on what time of year we travel to get them (we are anticipating January or February 2014) as well as some possible in-country costs having to do with some new requirements posed by our government. Because of this, we are only able to estimate what is needed. We believe that another $4,500 would bring us to that fully funded mark and we are believing that God will get us there.

We ask that you continue to pray for us as we make this final push to the end of this chapter in our journey with Aubrey and Micah. If you feel led to give financially to help us meet this need you can give a tax-deductible donation to our account on Reese’s Rainbow either by Paypal (a 3% transaction fee will apply) or by check with our names in the memo to:

Reece’s Rainbow
PO Box 4024
Gaithersburg, MD 20885

The link to our Reece’s Rainbow account: http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=forbes

Blessings!

Cliff and Erin