Some thoughts on fundraising

• When we brought Lucy home from China we were fortunate enough to have the financial resources. We would never have thought to ask friends or family to help us build our family. However, times have changed! It is very humbling for Chris and me to seek help, but we are going to do what we have to do to get Rita home.
  
  Three days after we filed paperwork to pursue Rita I had breakfast with a very dear friend. Out of no where, she presented me with a check to help us with our orphanage donation. I was overwhelmed by her generousity. I also felt a huge sense of responsibility toward this money.
  
  Less than 1 hour later I was finishing up a meeting with a client. Out of the blue she says to me "Let me know if your company ever does any fundraisers because we are willing to make donations." I thanked her and let her know that we sometimes do that kind of thing. Then it occurred to me to ask her if they would consider donating to a personal fundraiser. I told her about Rita and she did not hesitate for a moment to donate a certificate.
  
  I had been praying and pondering for days what kind of fundraiser I could pull off based on my talents and resources. I knew that day that we would be doing an on-line auction with donated items. Within the next 48 hours I made a few phone calls and was able to bring in another 10 item donations. I am absolutely overwhelmed and encouraged and humbled by all of this. My friends and business associates have been completely selfless in donating based on their resources. This has truly become a community project.
  
  Here is how this (hopefully) works:
• We've created an e-bay store called rita-adoption-fund. We will start the auction on Wednesday, July 15 and end it on Tuesday, July 21.
• We've set up a completely separate bank account (managed by my BFF Michelle) with a pay pal account that will put the auction money directly into this account.
• The money raised will go toward our required orphanage donation via our agency, America World Adoption Association. Over the past 10 - 15 years, these donations have GREATLY increased the quality of care received by the children.

Here is the list of items that I have so far. I hope to have 10 - 15 more by auction time, including some rounds of golf, a mall gift card and some gift cards to chain restaurants. I hope you see something you want to bid on!

GOURMET COOKIES!!! For a $35 donation I will mail you a box of delicious, home made chocolate chip cookies. Trust me, they are deeeeelicious!

$50 certificate to Tony Roma's Restaurant (2 of these)

$50 certificate to Pacino's Restaurant or Key W. Kool's restaurant

Lot of beautiful handmade bows/flower clips for your little girl's hair

Professionally made "gotcha day" video! (could also be used for birthday or other celebration)

4 VIP passes to Arabian Nights Dinner Show with stable tour (very cool - we've done it.)

Dinner for 2 at Raglan Road Irish Pub at Downtown Disney

Vera Bradely Super Tote and Matching Cook Keeper in Night Owl print

2 nights in a 2 bedroom suite at the Staybridge Suites in Lake Buena Vista, FL

$100 to Bice Ristorante at Portofino Bay Hotel

2 tickets to Sea World

2 tickets to Aquatica

2 1-day 2-park tickets to Universal Studios

Wet 'n Wild gift basket including 2 tickets

2 tickets to Slueths Dinner Show in Orlando

2 nights at the Crowne Plaza Universal Hotel

2 nights at Sheraton Safari Hotel

2 nights at the Double Tree Disney Hotel plus breakfast

50 minute massage at Mandera Spa

Facial from Acqua Day Spa

$25 certificate to Stonewood Grille and Tavern

Dinner for 2 at J. Alexanders

An extra value meal every month for a year at McDonalds (certain locations only)

$100 certificate to Bergamo's Italian Restaurant

2 hot air balloon rides from Orlando Balloon Rides

$60 gift basket from Discovery Toys

Dental Care basket with electric toothbruch, teeth whitener, toothpast, mouthwash etc

David Yurman citrine ring

David Yurman citrine bracelet

How we got here

As most everyone who knows us knows, our journey to China to bring home Lucy (our first daughter) was amazing. We kept a blog on ladybugjournals.com and really enjoyed sharing our experience. It has since become a very precious document that we cherish and share with Lucy.

1 year after we brought Lucy home we were able to start "paperchasing" for our 2nd daughter. We had a strong desire to go back to China because it was such a great experinece and we wanted to give Lucy a sister with her same heritage. At the time I began the paperwork I was expecting (and okay with ) a two year wait.

The paperwork did not go smoothly and took over a year to complete. By this time the wait for a baby girl from China was expected to be 18 months, which was fine with us. We waited only 7 months for Lucy, but were comfortable with a 18 - 24 month for Rita. As time went by, the wait time continued to grow. There is no telling what the wait for a "healthy" baby girl will actually be. The families who are traveling now have waited over 3 years, and the wait time continutes to grow.

I never expected that I would be open to a "special needs" child. I am not medically inclined. I chose not to give birth for a reason! Besides, I work full time and expect that I always will. But God began working on my heart and softening me to the possibilities. Through FCC (Families with Children from China) Chris and I began to meet other families with children who had been labeled "special needs." Most often we did not see a special need, but rather a beautiful child.

After meeting with our pediatrician, speaking to other parents, looking at lots of special needs websites (check out www.nohandsbutours.com ) and lots of prayer, we were accepted into the Waiting Child program with our agency in March 2009. It is called Waiting Child because these are children who will not be matched with families via the regular referral process. These are children who are waiting for someone to choose them. Some are older, some have severe special needs, some have minor needs or medical situations that have been corrected. There are SO MANY beautiful children waiting for homes! (check out www.rainbowkids.com.)

Our agency called us that same week with the file of an adorable girl with a cleft palate. But due to some continued immigration issues we were having, we were unable to accept. While I was sad about this, I knew in my heart that God had other plans for us and that this was not our daughter. We still had some hoops to jump through, and Chris still needed time to fully ready his heart. Our daughter came to us not via our agency, but through some very, very special friends. Sometimes God puts people in your life but you are not sure why. Other times it is amazingly clear and you just want to praise Him for letting you see Him work so clearly.

We met Nick and Ana at church 2 years ago. For no reason, Lucy would not leave Nick alone. She was crawling all over this man whom we had never met. Little did I know that his beautiful wife Ana had it in her heart to adopt internationally but Nick was not open to it. Over the next few months we all became great friends and Lucy worked her magic on Nick. We cheered and cried along with Nick and Ana on their path to adopting from Vietnam. Their beautiful little princess, Jasmine, is now 2 years old. It was through Ana, and the people who processed their adoption that we found Rita.

We first saw Rita's file on June 2nd. Rita was born with a sacroiliac tumor, a large tumor near the base of her spine. When she was 8 months old she had surgery to remove the tumor. As far as we can tell from her medical records, it does not appear that this tumor affected her spine or any of her organs. The tumor did disfigure her bottom a bit, and the surgery to remove it has left a substantial scar. She will likely need reconstructive/cosmetic surgery at some point. More importantly, she has the smile of an angel! Her paperwork describes her a quiet and gentle, with a ready smile. She will be 2 years old on August 20. We asked to lock in her file for 48 hours so we could consult with our pediatrician and discuss it as a family. On Sunday, June 7, we filled out all the paperwork needed to let China know that we want to make this little girl our daughter.

The next steps look like this:
1. Wait for pre-approval. We got this on Wednesday. June 24. This basically means "so far, so good."
2. Wait for Referral Acceptance. This could take 3 - 5 months. Because our dossier has only been in China for a year and a half, it hasn't even been reviewed yet. The CCAI needs to review our dossier before giving the offical acceptance. Once this happens, we will be able to post Rita's photos.
3. Wait for Travel Approval. This generally takes 6 - 8 weeks from the Referral Acceptance. Once we get TA, we can expect to be on a plane in 10 - 14 days!

While we hate the wait, we are thankful for this time to prepare our home and do the fundraising necessary to pay the orphange donation and travel fees. I will post soon about the fundraising efforts because I will need the support, participation and prayers of many to be successful. I am confident and encouraged that God will provide.