Fund Facts

We have had some folks ask how they can help with our adoption expenses.  Here is the answer to that questions, along with where we are on the financial end of things.
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We are currently working and saving towards the rest of the overseas fees and travel expenses and are in need of a little over $3,000 to be completely funded.  (For a general listing of expenses related to our adoption, you may visit our Financial Goals page.)

If you would like to donate towards our adoption expenses, you can do so through Lifesong for Orphans where we have a fundraising page.  There are two ways to give.  Funds can be donated online or via check sent through the mail, and donations will be accepted until the adoption is complete or she is in our home.

1)  Checks can be made payable to "Lifesong for Orphans".  In the memo section of the check, you must note the family account number and our family name to assure that it goes to the correct account.  Our family account number is 4122 and the family name is Foster.  Checks can be mailed to Lifesong For Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744.  100% of the money that is donated via mail will go directly to our adoption. 

2) You may also give online.  Go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate.  Under "gift preference", select "adoption funding", and under "adoption gift preference", select "family specific".  Our family account number is 4122 and the family name is Foster.  Please note that if you choose to donate online, Paypal does charge an administrative fee that will be taken our of the total donation amount.

(In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization.  The organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor's suggested use.  Individuals donation of $250 or more or yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt.  Receipts for donations less than $250 can be requested.  Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.)


If you have not given, would you consider it?

Every Dollar Makes A Difference!

If you have given already, thank you. Please know that we are grateful for your sacrifice.

Final Puzzle Update

We have completed our puzzle!!! Thanks to Becky, Dell and Tara, and Families Outreach, we were able to put the rest of the pieces together.  :)  A $500 grant from Families Outreach this week allowed us to meet and even exceed our goal.  Thank you, thank you , thank you again to everyone who donated funds in the last two months to help Cole and became a piece of our adoption puzzle.  We will get some puzzle saver in the next few days so we can hang it up!

Puzzle Update #2

It has been a few weeks since I showed an updated photo of our puzzle fundraiser.  Here is the most recent progress that has been made.  Thank you René, Kevin and Karen, Terrence, Steve, and the Perez family for becoming pieces of our puzzle.  We have put together more than 20 pieces in the last ten days or so and have made some good progress.

If we do not make our January 1st goal, we will keep this going until it is done and keep you updated every so often on its progress.  You may click here to learn more about it.  We are about a third of the way through with the puzzle and appreciate each of you who have helped us get this far.

Puzzle Update

Here is a quick update on the progress of our puzzle so far.  Cole has been really excited whenever he has been able to add pieces to it.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to Seth, Becky, and Julie for your contribution!

As you can see, we still have a ways to go.  There are still 90 pieces to put together.  We have a couple more puzzle pieces "promised" but need more help to finish it by our goal date of January 1st.

If you are new to our blog, are just hearing about our puzzle fundraiser, would like to learn more about it, or want to participate, please click here.

 Puzzle before it was begun

 The first two pieces

 The first six pieces

 Working on it together

 The first ten pieces...making progress :)

TUG

*Disclaimer - This post is a little different from most of the ones I publish.  If you are curious, read on, but please don't say that I didn't warn you! :D

Have you ever had a day (or days), week, or month of discouragement and/or frustration mixed in with a few "Are we crazy?" and "Now what?" thoughts?  Mid week last week, those were my thoughts on the subject of this adoption.  The excitement of our immigration approval was not over, but it had dimmed somewhat in light of the fact that we.were.stuck.  We could not make anymore big steps forward until we had the money to do so.  I have tried not to focus on money on this blog, instead making it more about our adoption journey, but the truth is that adoption is expensive - expensive to the tune of a minimum of $25,000 - $35,000 and money that we, and the majority of adoptive families, don't have lying around.  

By Abe Ezekowitz (My private collection)
[GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) 

On Thursday morning, I talked to our contact at Lifeline and was told that once we have our dossier in Hungary, it usually takes only a few weeks for approval, and we enter the referral stage of adoption.  Referral can be a process that is very fast (within a month or two), or it can drag out for several months.  It is dependent upon a few things, one of them, the availability of a child that is a good match for your family.  While this information came over the phone line, I was thinking "Ok, this is great news! We are getting closer, but we don't have the money to move forward right now, so it still seems so far away."  That same day, we got a phone call from an agency we applied to to get an interest free loan for adoption expenses.  (The year after a completed adoption, an adoptive family is eligible for a tax credit to help offset the costs of adoption.)  Lifesong and We Care For Orphans are partnering together to give us a $5,000 loan.   This loan is given to us now, and we agree to pay them back using some of the tax credit we will receive after the adoption.  Every time it has appeared that we would hit a wall regarding the money we need to move forward, God has brought it in from somewhere.  In this instance, it is more than we needed right now, and will also help us to cover some other upcoming expenses.  We are so thankful that God is using Lifesong and We Care For Orphans to help us move forward now.  We hope to have our dossier in country in the next few weeks.  

By Ryan Child
  

You may be asking still.."What about your post title?  What does "TUG" have to do with this?" When I was a teenager, my pastor taught us to use the acronym TUG for answered prayer.  It means "Thank U God".  No, it isn't the best English, and yes, I know that "you" isn't spelled that way, but I never forgot that and still often use it today to cross off an answered prayer on my prayer list.  I just wanted to say Thank you God for answered prayer!  Thank you also to those of you who have been praying with us regarding the loan/grant applications we have mailed out.  Please don't stop praying!  This was the only loan application we sent out, but there are still several grant applications that are pending.  We still need $15,000 - $20,000 between now and the time we will travel to get our child. Please pray that we will be awarded some (or most) of this money through grants and the rest through fundraisers and extra income.  Right now, we have no idea where this money will come from, but every time we have needed funds to move forward, He has provided them.

I read this week Ez. 37:1-10 where Ezekiel is told to preach to dry bones.  There was no life there, but Ezekiel went forward anyway because he knew that is what God told him to do.  I hope that if you have some "dry bones" in your life that this post about seeming "dry bones" in our lives will encourage you.  If you have no idea how what is happening is going to work out, even though you know you are doing what God has called you to do, may I encourage you to move forward anyway in this thing we call faith.

  Thank you to those who have helped us financially so far.  Our puzzle fundraiser is still going on, and we still need more pieces to be purchased!  Will you help Cole put more pieces of his puzzle together?  To read how

Be A Piece Of Our Puzzle

Several weeks ago, Mark and I saw an idea for a fundraiser, using a puzzle.  We talked about trying it but have not gone ahead with it and our son beat us to it. :D  About two weeks ago, Cole won a puzzle as a prize in junior church.  He has wanted to help us get the money we need for our adoption expenses and asked if he could use the puzzle he won for it.

Here Is How It Works

Cole wants to put together his puzzle.  Each piece costs $5 to put into place, so we are asking you to donate $5 toward our adoption expenses.  For every five dollars that you donate, we write your name on the back of a puzzle piece, put it into the puzzle, and you become a piece of our puzzle and our adoption.   You can donate $5, $10, or more.  Your name or your family's name will go on the back of as many puzzle pieces as you "buy".   Once the puzzle is completely put together, we will put a clear puzzle sealer on the front and back and hang it.  It will be our visual reminder of all the people who helped us bring our child home.  Our goal is to raise $500 by January 1st, 2014.  Cole is very excited about being able to help with our adoption expenses.  Will you help him put his puzzle together?

You can donate via Paypal.  Please indicate "puzzle" on your Paypal donation.  We will keep you updated on how the puzzle is going together. If you would like to participate but do not have a PayPal account, please contact me at we2fosters@gmail.com, and I will email you our mailing address. Thanks in advance!