This week, I'm going to answer the question that we've been hearing a lot- a question that warms my heart and leaves me speechless- "How can I/we help?"
Talk about amazing- I am in awe of the number of people that have already helped us in a million ways, and the number of people that have offered to help us bring our baby home. Let me begin by truly, from both of us, saying THANK YOU. Thank you for the love, consideration, and compassion that you have already shown us- the smallest things can make the biggest difference, and we have been blown away. There is no doubt in our minds that we couldn't do this alone, so thank you!
Now, to actually answer the question- a few things that you can do...
Fundraising. We are trying to be really creative about how we raise this money, because it costs so. much. money. and we don't have it all. We have been saving for a while, but we definitely don't have the means to save for this whole thing right now- it would take us YEARS to come up with the money for this- I definitely didn't get into teaching for the paycheck.
Anyways, here's how you can help with that:
Give us your junk. Or your not-junk, that's okay too. We have already gotten many donations for stuff we will be selling on Craigslist, Ebay, and at garage sales. We'll take it all!
Make crafty stuff. More details about this will come soon, but a friend and I are simultaneously fundraising for our adoptions, and we're planning on starting an annual craft bazaar (we're estimating in April). Ideally, we will do this every year and create a fund for others that are adopting. Any type of help would be awesome- donations, manning a table, running the cash box, etc.- whatever your skill set, we can use it.
Airline miles. A major cost is the flight, and if you accumulate airlines miles and would be willing to donate them, let us know! In reality, there are a few airlines we could take out to Hawaii, but Alaska is the cheapest and most frequent. From Hawaii to the Marshall Islands, United seems to be the most consistent airline on that route, so miles for either of those two airlines would be awesome- it could cut down on our expenses in a major way.
Other donations. It's awkward to talk about money (yuck), but there are also ways to just make a straight donation- we have had people give cash and use PayPal- please email me or comment if you would like to do that. It's still a little weird to me, but really, it has been super humbling how many people believe in what we're doing.
Encouragement/Well wishes/Prayers. Whatever your fancy, it's all appreciated. We know how little we know about this- this is the steepest learning curve EVER. Not only are we figuring out how we're going to parent, we're figuring out how to raise tens of thousands of dollars, and how to approach having a transracial family, and how to navigate the waters of adoption in general- the legal process, the paperwork... whoa. I have heard from many adoptive families that these notes of encouragement got them through the process, especially in the home stretch.
Learn about adoption. I wrote a whole paragraph and then deleted it, because it boils down to this. Not everyone is meant to adopt- that's okay. Everyone can help adoptive families, though. Please consider how you can do this in your area.
Updates!
I realize that I've already skipped a week (whoops), but I guess there's no better way to set the bar low- I have a feeling y'all are going to have to get used to me missing posts as things get busy.
Currently, we're in the middle of the fun stuff at the beginning of the home study- the paperwork (whawhawhaaa). When we're done with this chunk, we will have completed 188 pages (I'm keeping count out of morbid curiosity), and we have many, many more to go. Some of this is out of our hands- we have to wait for our FBI background checks to return, letters of recommendation from friends and family to be sent in, even a vet's note about our dogs certifying that they're disease-free and okay to be with kids. While those trickle in, we can start our education hours, and then the meetings in-home with the social worker. A friend of mine recently told me, "Appreciate this phase now- it's the only thing you can control. The rest is just waiting." We're trying to be content with this time, which isn't easy when you're 45 pages deep in the weirdest, longest personal profile you've ever filled out, but still- I'll probably beg for more paperwork when we're just waiting for our referral.
Until next week (?), thanks for your support and love!
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