Fundraising

Why is international adoption so expensive?

Most of the cost actually goes to Haiti. This includes lawyer fees, processing documents, translating documents, donation to the creche, and in-country escorts when we travel to Haiti. Approximately $12,000 goes to our agency. If our whole process takes about two years, like we are estimating, then that would mean they make about $500/month. Their job is to help us prepare our paperwork (I mean gobs and gobs of paperwork), support while we are in-country visiting the children, and answer any questions. So I really think this is a justified amount given how closely we will be working with them over the next couple years. Other fees include our home study, fingerprinting, medical exams for the children, filing our application with the US government to declare an orphan as immediate family member, and travel expenses.

So if you can't afford it, why are you adopting?

That is a fair question. We can afford to take care of more children. We just can't afford the initial cost it takes to get them here. We are being proactive in saving funds to pay for as much as we can. We began saving last summer the moment this idea came up. We have made significant budget cuts. Trevor is doing odd jobs on the weekends and my days off. We are considering sell in my car. We will also probably be giving up our smart phones (ouch, that one is really going to hurt). We are going to be selling any unused or unnecessary items on Craigslist There are also many adoption grants available that we will be applying for. We are committed to doing whatever it takes financially to bring two boys home.

So basically we need your help, big time. We have a lot of fundraising ideas. We would also welcome any ideas that you have or opportunities.

• 3,000 Miles Fundraiser - According to Google Yakima, WA is 3,340 miles from the capital, Port au Prince, Haiti. We are going the distance of 3,000 miles to bring babies home from Haiti. Hopefully we will get each of those miles sponsored. You can join this Bold Challenge.
• The Apparent Project - This organization really seeks to address the problem of orphans at the root of the cause. They work with parents of at risk children by giving them jobs to create a steady income so parents can provide for their children and not have to resort to sending them to an orphanage. So cool...right?
• 5K Run/Walk - We will definitely be hosting one of these is WA and I really hope logistically we can work it out to have one in TN.
• T-shirts
• Water bottles - There is a really cool bottling company here in Yakima called Liberty Bottle Works. We have pretty amazing water bottle that you can buy to support our adoption. Check it out here.
• Food/Music venue - We would love to have some kind of supper that we could sell tickets for and then have local live music. 
• Puzzle pieces - We will be selling puzzle pieces and write the family/individual name on the back of the puzzle piece. Once the puzzle is complete we will frame it in a double sided frame to hang in the children's room so they will be able to see who had a part in bringing them home. 
• Give1Save1 - We will be applying to have Give1Save1 to sponsor our family for one week. The idea is that if everyone we know and everyone they know give $1 it can make a huge impact to save a child.