A lot of people have asked us "How much will this adoption cost?" Most everyone is blown away with our response. "$32,000" we say with a smile. Yep, $32,000. We could buy a nice car with that kind of money or even renovate our three bathrooms for that. We could even help other organizations support orphans and widows around the world, but God didn't call us to that right now.
Why so expensive? There are a lot of reasons. We are dealing with two governments, an adoption agency, travel expenses, transition home care, and medical expenses. Our airfare alone for four round trip tickets to Ethiopia (two trips each for two people) was around $8,000 with our last adoption. That's just airfare. It doesn't include staying in the guest home/hotel, food, in-country transportation, or airport parking. I'm not saying this to gain sympathy or even to complain. We just want to be transparent while we fund raise.
Why fund raise? That's pretty simple. We can't do it by ourselves. We just paid off the airline tickets for Grace's adoption. HALLELUJAH!!!!! We have zero credit card debt, but very little savings at this moment. We know God will provide for this adoption through fundraising and other resources. We were very blessed with so many people becoming part of Grace's adoption story through prayer and financial support. They are part of her story. Fundraising allows people to become part of God's amazing love story for orphans.
What's the plan?
-I am going to start babysitting this week and all of this extra money will go into our adoption fund.
-We are continuing our iPad Mini raffle through September 8th. Our iPad raffle last year was such a success that we thought we would try it again. You can enter the raffle here https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/eZdj8
- Applying for a Both Hands project to help raise money for our adoption and also help a widow in our community. We are VERY excited about this and hope they accept us. Check out the link to see what it's about at www.bothhandsfoundation.org.
- Applying for adoption grants. We are applying for multiple grants.
-Link and Drink- This is encompasses selling hot dogs, soft drinks, and chips at a local business. We are still trying to find a local business to let us do this in their parking lot.
-Garage sale- we are hoping to do this in September or October. If you're local and want to donate your old stuff let us know and we'll pick it up!
-We are saving money and downsizing our cost of living
What's the timeline? We cannot be put on the waiting list for a child until we have enough money for the agency contract ($2,750) and for the dossier paperwork ($8,250). Getting our paperwork together is the easy part right now, but we cannot submit it until we have the $11,000. We also have to apply for our USCIS (approval from our US government to adopt an orphan). This is another $890. After this money is raised, we will be put on the waiting list which should take 4-6 months before we get our referral. Once we accept our referral (our daughter) we will then owe $4650+medical expenses. We will have to pay for our travel, re-adoption, and other miscellaneous expenses after acceptance of our daughter's referral also.
I think this sums it up! We are always willing to answer specific questions about fundraising or the adoption process so please ask if you're wondering!
Why so expensive? There are a lot of reasons. We are dealing with two governments, an adoption agency, travel expenses, transition home care, and medical expenses. Our airfare alone for four round trip tickets to Ethiopia (two trips each for two people) was around $8,000 with our last adoption. That's just airfare. It doesn't include staying in the guest home/hotel, food, in-country transportation, or airport parking. I'm not saying this to gain sympathy or even to complain. We just want to be transparent while we fund raise.
Why fund raise? That's pretty simple. We can't do it by ourselves. We just paid off the airline tickets for Grace's adoption. HALLELUJAH!!!!! We have zero credit card debt, but very little savings at this moment. We know God will provide for this adoption through fundraising and other resources. We were very blessed with so many people becoming part of Grace's adoption story through prayer and financial support. They are part of her story. Fundraising allows people to become part of God's amazing love story for orphans.
What's the plan?
-I am going to start babysitting this week and all of this extra money will go into our adoption fund.
-We are continuing our iPad Mini raffle through September 8th. Our iPad raffle last year was such a success that we thought we would try it again. You can enter the raffle here https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/eZdj8
- Applying for a Both Hands project to help raise money for our adoption and also help a widow in our community. We are VERY excited about this and hope they accept us. Check out the link to see what it's about at www.bothhandsfoundation.org.
- Applying for adoption grants. We are applying for multiple grants.
-Link and Drink- This is encompasses selling hot dogs, soft drinks, and chips at a local business. We are still trying to find a local business to let us do this in their parking lot.
-Garage sale- we are hoping to do this in September or October. If you're local and want to donate your old stuff let us know and we'll pick it up!
-We are saving money and downsizing our cost of living
What's the timeline? We cannot be put on the waiting list for a child until we have enough money for the agency contract ($2,750) and for the dossier paperwork ($8,250). Getting our paperwork together is the easy part right now, but we cannot submit it until we have the $11,000. We also have to apply for our USCIS (approval from our US government to adopt an orphan). This is another $890. After this money is raised, we will be put on the waiting list which should take 4-6 months before we get our referral. Once we accept our referral (our daughter) we will then owe $4650+medical expenses. We will have to pay for our travel, re-adoption, and other miscellaneous expenses after acceptance of our daughter's referral also.
I think this sums it up! We are always willing to answer specific questions about fundraising or the adoption process so please ask if you're wondering!
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