We feel that we have been called to adopt, for so very many reasons, and are now facing the massive financial responsibility that comes with adoption. We have decided on our country, after a great deal of research, and are committed. (While I appreciate the advice to adopt in the foster system, etc. it isn't an option for our family, for many reasons) :)

So - my question is this:

What are some legitimate ways to raise funds for such a venture?

DH doesn't want to have a formal fundraiser because he thinks it is too much work. (I headed one up about five years ago and to say it was time-consuming and stressful is a vast understatement). He also doesn't want to invite his co-workers or family to such an event because he's afraid of being judged and doesn't want them to think we're going through with something that we cannot afford. I think we should at least give them the information and let THEM decide if they want to participate/contribute. Long story - but ultimately, he's not budging, but is praying that the means will be provided for us. I believe we have to be proactive and we're trying to reach a compromise.

So - any ideas? (Aside from adoption loans and grants, which we will apply for, but aren't a very good guarantee). I know there are a lot of particulars on ebay now about fundraising, as well as raffles and the like. I just don't know what the guidelines are.

Thanks so much.

I have some ideas, please PM and I'll get you some information....

PMing you now :)
Thanks!!

How about a p/t job? It's good that you're checking into loans, you can use the adoption tax credit to help pay them off. I know some families just take out a line of credit, then use the tax credit to pay it.

ETA, have you checked into adopting from the state? It doesn't cost a dime :)

Yes, we've looked into adopting domestically (and from the foster system) and we aren't eligible for a healthy child, nor one under the age of 6. While we know and understand the need for adoptions in situations like this, we feel that because of our family size, it would not be in the child's nor the family's best interest to take on a special needs older child at this time. It's sad - and it was a very difficult (prayer-led) decision, but it just isn't something we are able to do right now. (And the state will not allow us to take on a severely disabled child because we already have four children in the home, so they limited us as well). But, were we aware of the need earlier in our family-building, we certainly would have adopted from the foster system years ago.


eta: I also checked into some part time jobs, but because DH travels extensively and at the drop of a dime (and our lack of a support network at home for child care) I'm not able to commit to a regular schedule. <sigh>

do you have any hobbies or talents that would let you work from home?

Potentially...

I sew a little, nothing spectacular like some of the seamstresses here, though. It all seems like drops in the bucket, for a sum this large. Sometimes it is just overwhelming to imagine this much money all at once.

Oh I know what you mean. Even though Terrick is only 3 1/2 weeks old we also feel compelled to adopt down the road. I guess I should start saving now but there are alot of other things we need to save for first.

I am subscribing to this thread hoping you get good advice so down the road we can borrow it ;)

Thanks, Jackie :)

Sometimes I feel nuts for doing this - well, I feel OTHERS feel I'm nuts :)
I feel at peace.

Some ideas I have thought of, but don't know how to go about doing them are:

A book (I have written this, it's an adoption book with a story about animals who adopt - I intended it to be cross-culture so that it would apply to many different adoptive families). I just don't know how to go about printing it and then distributing/selling it.

I thought about selling those rubber bracelets - but they're kind of out of vogue now ;)

I desperately want to do another silent auction/dinner, and know I can, but DH won't go for it. We raised almost $5000 for another family doing this, but he says it's not cool to do it for ourselves.

I don't have any raising money ideas other than the regular ones (pt jobs or wahm or loans).

I wish someone had come up with a fundraiser for us when we adopted Daniel and Maylen from Peru and Bolivia!!! That would have rocked!

Although I've never heard of one, tell your dh that having a fundraiser is a walk in the park compared to the journey on which you are about to embark. If you are doing international adoption, a major fundraiser would be the easiest part of it.

I wish you the best and hope you come up with a solution. Our adoption journeys are precious. I hope it works out for you.

You said a part time job would be hard, but could you get a newspaper route?

I know that sounds so unfun or not cool, but twice now in our marriage we've done this. It's a pain because it makes a vacation difficult (arranging a substitute) but it really can bring in some good money.

We did it back when dh couldn't legally work - and it helped. Then we stopped. Now that we're trying to save some money, we just started up again. I really kind of enjoy it. It's early in the morning, the first two weeks were hard for me to get used to going to bed at a decent hour (9-10) and then getting up at 3. However I am used to it now, and I finish about 5 or 5.30 and can go home and go back to bed. It doesn't take time away from the family since they're all sleeping... and dh helps me on the weekends.

We do about 100 papers, and our check is usually around $300 every two weeks... won't make us rich, but not too shabby for two hours a day.

Great ideas - I'll have to look into the paper route. However, I'm not entirely sure how feasible it would be when DH is travelling - since I"d have to load four kids up in the car with me :) But, there are a few other "free" publications that might need distributors on evening hours or weekends that I could look into. :)

What kind of WAHM ventures are there that haven't been covered already?
Everyone seems so talented - and I can't really invest much into a "business" right now that has much overhead. But, surely there is SOMETHING! :)

throwing ideas out here..
yard sale some big items and declutter little stuff at the same time

maybe look into a housecleaning job where you clean someones house once or twice a week you could take your kids along with you and if they're old enough maybe they could help out

a bake sale

maybe you could put an ad out for babysitting occasionally, nights and weekends you can make some nice money!

What kind of WAHM ventures are there that haven't been covered already? Everyone seems so talented - and I can't really invest much into a "business" right now that has much overhead. But, surely there is SOMETHING! :)

Starting a WAHM business will likely not get you the kind of money you are looking for until you are well established. In many cases, you will be in the red for the first few years.

throwing ideas out here..

maybe you could put an ad out for babysitting occasionally, nights and weekends you can make some nice money!

I have a friend who babysat for a few months (she would do late nights and overnights) and made enough money to cover her breast augmentation in a relatively short amount of time. It was a hassle at times to have more children around (her dh was even deployed at the time), but she wanted her BA badly enough to work through the issues that went along with babysitting of that nature. She has 4 children of her own.

Good luck.

Home equity loan.

We've adopted from India 3 times. I'm still not quite sure how we came up with the money, although India tends to be one of the least expensive international adoptions, at least when we were involved with it. We really scrimped and saved and did without a lot, but it was certainly worth it.

We have friends who are adopting from China and they've done things like having a big yard sale - we donated some baked goods to that one. A friend of theirs spearheaded it and we got a letter from them telling various ways we could help. I didn't feel pressured to do it at all and was glad to help in a small way.

My cloth diaper business really helped pay for Lauryn's adoption, but it was well-established when we started her adoption.

Something I would suggest is to think about adopting a waiting child. There are so many waiting children out there who need good homes. Our second agency, WACAP, greatly reduced the fees for our son Reid, because he was a waiting child. He was waiting because he was a small and very ill baby at birth. They were not sure if he would live, so he wasn't available for adoption until he was a little older - and still we brought him home at 17 months. Basically he was waiting because he was a little older and a boy.

I've seen suggestions for saving money on agency websites, if you look around you should be able to find some of those lists. Good luck to you! Adopting is quite an adventure. It has been wonderful for our family.

Yes, we've looked into adopting domestically (and from the foster system) and we aren't eligible for a healthy child, nor one under the age of 6. While we know and understand the need for adoptions in situations like this, we feel that because of our family size, it would not be in the child's nor the family's best interest to take on a special needs older child at this time. It's sad - and it was a very difficult (prayer-led) decision, but it just isn't something we are able to do right now. (And the state will not allow us to take on a severely disabled child because we already have four children in the home, so they limited us as well). But, were we aware of the need earlier in our family-building, we certainly would have adopted from the foster system years ago.


eta: I also checked into some part time jobs, but because DH travels extensively and at the drop of a dime (and our lack of a support network at home for child care) I'm not able to commit to a regular schedule. <sigh>

I'm just curious, and you can pm me if the info is too personal, but why aren't you eligible to adopt through the state? IME, it is much, much harder to adopt overseas, the homestudy is WAY more intensive than domestic ones, and overall the different countries have much more strict requirements......In the US, family size is not an issue when adopting through the state.....and while it is challenging to find kids under six, it can happen, it's a myth that only older and/or medically fragile kids are free for adoption. Also, if you want a healthy biracial newborn, it only costs about 9K......and I can give you the name of a wonderful agency.

Good luck,
Kristi

thanks so much for all the advice

Would you mind elaborating on the letter you received? How was it worded? What information was given and how was the request for help presented? I keep telling DH that this is just a really great way to inform our community (friends, family, church, and employers) about our intentions and let them decide, but I think he's afraid to look like we're begging or something.

Home equity is the way my aunt and uncle paid for theirs - unfortunately, we just bought our first home this past July, so not much there :)

I *do* like the babysitting idea. I just read an adoption site where someone suggested having a "parents night out" type deal with a movie and snack and maybe even dinner. She said they made a good amount of money on that one. :)

I'm just curious, and you can pm me if the info is too personal, but why aren't you eligible to adopt through the state? IME, it is much, much harder to adopt overseas, the homestudy is WAY more intensive than domestic ones, and overall the different countries have much more strict requirements......In the US, family size is not an issue when adopting through the state.....and while it is challenging to find kids under six, it can happen, it's a myth that only older and/or medically fragile kids are free for adoption. Also, if you want a healthy biracial newborn, it only costs about 9K......and I can give you the name of a wonderful agency.
Good luck,
Kristi

No problem at all!! I put it out there :)

I would have NO problem with a healthy biracial newborn AT ALL. I'd embrace the opportunity in a heartbeat (as would DH).

When we contacted our local agency they were quite harsh with me. They emailed me back and said that because we have four children in the home, we are not eligible to adopt a healthy child - and that the only waiting children they had right now were over 8 and severely disabled or older sibling groups, which they said would be "an issue" since we have older children (I took it to mean that it would be an issue for them, although it would be an issue for us as well).

I know this isn't the point of your post, so feel free to ignore me.

We adopted newborn (well, not anymore, now she's four; she was three days old when we picked her up) Annaliese through Adoption-Link in Oak Park, Illinois. Their website is adoptionlinkillinois.com.
They work with adoptive families throughout the country, though you'd have to travel to pick up your baby. I believe that almost all of the fee and the homestudy (done in your home state) would probably be covered by the tax credit. (So loans would work fine.)

This agency only places African-American and biracial children, almost all of whom are newborns.

I cannot imagine you would not "qualify" with them. When we adopted, my partner did the adoption (openly as a woman in a two-mom house, but she adopted as a single mom), when she was over the age of 50, with five children (only one still at home) and on a single income. The owner herself has a large family, mostly through adoption.

Just wanted to put that out there. We were VERY happy with our experience, and I'd be glad to answer any questions.

Hana

Wait, your agency turned you down for a bi-racial child? Are you serious?

There are literally babies waiting for placement because they are something other than white.

Do you want a baby baby? Because in every country I've ever heard of, older children (pretty much over age 2) have much lower - much! - fees than babies. And siblign groups - with very young children - are even easier to get.

FWIW, our international situation was considerably stricter than domestic in that we could not have more than one child (in some instances no children), we had to have been married more than three year. We had to be over 25 but less than 45. We had to have so many papers all of which had to be notorized locally and by the STATE: physicals, psychologicals, bank statements (a year of all the deposits and debits from our accounts), fingerprinting, clearance by INTERPOL, references (personal and professional), pastoral references, extensive homestudies, proof of financial stability, etc.

I don't understand your agency. I don't know who they are, but if they were "harsh" with you NOW, in the beginning - well, I would run in the opposite direction. You have to have the support of your agency because they are the only link you have to your child and the government where your child is.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about my agency, Villa Hope in Birmingham, AL. They placed children all over the country. You can search for them on the web. They were so incredibly helpful every step of the way. They were patient with our calls and questions and did their best to answer them in a timely manner.

VH is actively seeking a family for a sibling group of kids 12, 8 and 3 from Guatamala. From Peru, you can adopt two children who are unrelated at the same time. In fact, on their front page, they report that a family is in Guatamala to adopt a child only to find that he has a brother. They are trying to raise funds for the family so that they can adopt the brother too. THAT is the kind of agency you need!

I want your adoption experience to be wonderful for you, but something seems wrong with the response you are getting. Of course, I haven't spoken to them myself, so maybe I don't understand.

Los Ninos has a page about funding: http://www.losninos.org/funds.php

This site is even better - very creative ideas! Geez, I might just do some of this and get another baby myself! http://precious.org/adoption-financing.htm

Here is a beautiful family waiting: http://www.adopt.org/waitingchildren/index.html

Finally this site has tons and tons of info: http://precious.org/.

They have over 900 waiting children.

Bleh - you can tell I am passionate about adoption. It is not impossible. It's hard - harder than birth in may ways (I have a birth child too). But please, pick a good, caring agency.

Finally, remember, in many countries, special needs can be very minor such as cleft lip, large birthmarks, etc.

A book (I have written this, it's an adoption book with a story about animals who adopt - I intended it to be cross-culture so that it would apply to many different adoptive families). I just don't know how to go about printing it and then distributing/selling it.
Check out www.lulu.com for the printing. I'm not sure about the distributing/selling, but I assume advertising it on forums like this one is a start.

No problem at all!! I put it out there :)

I would have NO problem with a healthy biracial newborn AT ALL. I'd embrace the opportunity in a heartbeat (as would DH).

When we contacted our local agency they were quite harsh with me. They emailed me back and said that because we have four children in the home, we are not eligible to adopt a healthy child - and that the only waiting children they had right now were over 8 and severely disabled or older sibling groups, which they said would be "an issue" since we have older children (I took it to mean that it would be an issue for them, although it would be an issue for us as well).

We went looking into adoption years back, and were told the same thing by our local adoption agency. But when we looked into things further, if we were willing to foster first (through the state; all homestudy fees covered), with the intent to adopt, we would have the chance to adopt a newborn, toddler, or whatever child came into our custody and went up for adoption. Apparently the foster parents are given first chance to adopt, and usually do. Which is why they told you that there were only older kids available for immediate adoption. The younger ones are usually adopted by their foster parents or by other foster parents that have made their intent to adopt known. So by fostering first, you may have a wonderful chance to have a newborn or toddler. Friends of ours through church, had been fostering a 1 yr old, and then the baby's 2 siblings also went into foster care (a 3 and 5 yr old). They are now fostering those 3 kids and are in the process of adopting them all. These kids were soooo wonderful. It was really inspiring.

Wait, your agency turned you down for a bi-racial child? Are you serious?

There are literally babies waiting for placement because they are something other than white.

Do you want a baby baby? Because in every country I've ever heard of, older children (pretty much over age 2) have much lower - much! - fees than babies. And siblign groups - with very young children - are even easier to get.

FWIW, our international situation was considerably stricter than domestic in that we could not have more than one child (in some instances no children), we had to have been married more than three year. We had to be over 25 but less than 45. We had to have so many papers all of which had to be notorized locally and by the STATE: physicals, psychologicals, bank statements (a year of all the deposits and debits from our accounts), fingerprinting, clearance by INTERPOL, references (personal and professional), pastoral references, extensive homestudies, proof of financial stability, etc.

I don't understand your agency. I don't know who they are, but if they were "harsh" with you NOW, in the beginning - well, I would run in the opposite direction. You have to have the support of your agency because they are the only link you have to your child and the government where your child is.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about my agency, Villa Hope in Birmingham, AL. They placed children all over the country. You can search for them on the web. They were so incredibly helpful every step of the way. They were patient with our calls and questions and did their best to answer them in a timely manner.

VH is actively seeking a family for a sibling group of kids 12, 8 and 3 from Guatamala. From Peru, you can adopt two children who are unrelated at the same time. In fact, on their front page, they report that a family is in Guatamala to adopt a child only to find that he has a brother. They are trying to raise funds for the family so that they can adopt the brother too. THAT is the kind of agency you need!

I want your adoption experience to be wonderful for you, but something seems wrong with the response you are getting. Of course, I haven't spoken to them myself, so maybe I don't understand.

Los Ninos has a page about funding: http://www.losninos.org/funds.php

This site is even better - very creative ideas! Geez, I might just do some of this and get another baby myself! http://precious.org/adoption-financing.htm

Here is a beautiful family waiting: http://www.adopt.org/waitingchildren/index.html

Finally this site has tons and tons of info: http://precious.org/.

They have over 900 waiting children.

Bleh - you can tell I am passionate about adoption. It is not impossible. It's hard - harder than birth in may ways (I have a birth child too). But please, pick a good, caring agency.

Finally, remember, in many countries, special needs can be very minor such as cleft lip, large birthmarks, etc.

I think the OP was saying she wants to do a domestic adoption. In her reply I think she was referring to the STATE agency, which I can totally understand. Our state DHS is awful about giving you "the speech" - they are only willing to accept families that are open to caucasian sibling groups ages ten and over, severe special needs, and families that are open to African-American children two and older (I have no idea what they think happens to the kids NOT of those two races, and under the ages specified). Anyway, I have many friends waiting in our state system for kids. They are open to different things. One is open to black children with sever special needs. Been waiting forever. No one answers her calls, etc. She just picked TODAY though (yippee) from ANOTHEr state for twin black toddler boys :heart: and they were very premature and have special needs. Another friend is open to a sibling group of up to five kids. Nothing. It is amazing. ANother friend wants a child around the age of ten. They told her it'd be 6 months before they got to her homestudy (she's finished classes already). Geez, irritates the fire outta me. Meanwhile we have over 450 kids sitting there waiting to be adopted. UGH Sorry, went on a rant. BUt anyway, OP, that is their "canned" speech. If you truly think you may possibly want to go the route of adopting thru the state, it jsut simply isn't true that only special needs older kids are available for adoption. True, most of the younger kids get adopted by foster families, but there are foster families that can't or won't adopt. The kids have to go somewhere and they need homes too. Some states are much easier to work with. Ours just happen to be especially bad. Also, I echo what Denise says about your agency. Pick a good one. Call BBB. Check message boards for experiences. Call references. I wish I had. Ours (I'm talking private now not state) treated us and bmoms awful. One of my friends called one of their references and she actually told her not to use that agency! Now they only accept letters of referral or you could bet I would be letting people call me! ;)

Denise - I am wondering if we could start placing notices on the foster/adopt board of kids waiting for homes? I have 6 friends I can think of waiting on kids - all open to things other than just lily white newborns. :heart:.


OP - I was gonna suggest babysitting in your home as well. Also what about a fundraiser such as a Pampered Chef cookbook sale or something easy like that? I personally am not comfortable with a lot of fund raising for our family, but have friends that are. Two families are going in together and having a silent auction for donated things. They also have had a couple of garage sales with donated stuff. At the garage sale, they also had a jar for donations. Like I said, it is out of my comfort zone, but I have no problem with others doing it! Also, are you aware of the tax credit? Someone suggested a loan which is in effect what we did, only it came from my dad. He loaned us the money and we'll be able to pay it off fully next year when our tax money comes back.

Biracial adoptions, IME, run around $17,000 (although someone listed an agency that has lower fees). Full African-American adoptions have even lower fees (sad but true). Are you possibly a card-carrying Native American?

Adoption can be a long hard road but so very worth it! :heart: :couple:

Heading out for a couple days on a business trip (tagging along with DH) :)
but I wanted to send out a heartfelt thanks for all your information and advice.

Yes, you're absolutely right - it was the state agency that I spoke with that was awful to me. (I know, big shock) :rolleyes:

We're not 100% committed to an agency yet because we're waiting to meet (in person) two different attornies who have agencies that are local. But, both specialize in Guatemalan adoptions.

My DH is UBER-paranoid about a domestic adoption, though. Apparently when his brother was adopted there were some relinquishing issues with birthmom and it has kind of scarred him. :eyes:

We also chose Guatemala because a very close relative adopted from there three years ago and she was expressing her concern for her son not having any bonds with children locally who "look the same" - she said at his age (4) they begin to notice cultural differences and DH mentioned this when we were researching countries - how special it would be for our potential son to have a Guatemalan "big brother" of sorts.

Keep up the great info!!! :) (Or, at very least the conversation - I love hearing about all the experiences and info)

Call Villa Hope.

Please!

www.villahope.org

Their guatemala program is one of the BEST!!!

They are a fabulous agency. You will get a baby. They will walk you through the process. Their fees are reasonable/cheaper than other agencies. I cannot say enough wonderful things about them. As far as I am concerned, they are without blemish. And our adoption was in 1993, so it's been a while.

Just give them a chance. Also, they began their adoption journey as medical missionaries to Latin America. They still work within each country for the betterment of the children and families there instead of just exporting their children. We sent over 1000 lbs of supplies for the orphanages when we went to Bolivia. They are in adoption for the children, not for the profit. They truly care.

Here is their Guatemala info:

VILLA HOPE is re-opening a direct Guatemala Program!

We are actively recruiting families, especially those with a completed dossier. Please contact VILLA HOPE for more information on this program.

205.870.7359 or 1.866.261.7359

Guatemala

We have a sibling group of three that need a home. The ages are 12, 8, & 3. If you are interested please contact us!

Children available through the Guatemala Program include infants, toddlers, and older children. Special needs children are also available. Children are frequently assigned as newborns and stay in small, private foster homes until the parents arrive.

Couples between the ages of 25 – 55 may adopt. Unmarried (heterosexual) or legally divorced singles are also accepted.

The wait for assignment of a child is approximately 0 – 2 months after the dossier is sent to Guatemala. After the assignment of the child, the family may travel in approximately 3 to 6 months. One or both parents may travel to Guatemala for 3 business days. If the family chooses not to travel, the child may be escorted to the United States. Any pre-adoptive requirements of your state must be met for this program.

Children are frequently assigned as newborns and stay in small, private foster homes until the parents arrive.

.
VILLA HOPE WILL PREPARE YOUR DOSSIER FOR YOU!

E-mail: villahope@villahope.org

Phone: 205.870.7359 or 866.261.7359

We also chose Guatemala because a very close relative adopted from there three years ago and she was expressing her concern for her son not having any bonds with children locally who "look the same" - she said at his age (4) they begin to notice cultural differences and DH mentioned this when we were researching countries - how special it would be for our potential son to have a Guatemalan "big brother" of sorts.


There are some good books out there written by adoptive parents that may give her insight into some of the special issues she will face when raising a child who was born into a different culture. My aunt actually wrote a book about her experience adopting 2 children from Korea and it has received pretty good reviews. IMO, she did a fabulous job in raising these 2 girls in America while still helping them retain their ties to their Korean heritage. PM me if you want the title of the book.

Do you have a degree or education in a specific field?

Could you be a substitute teacher? In our district, you'd get an automated call in the morning. You press "1" if you accept the job for the day and "2" if you do not. That way, it would work with your husband's unplanned traveling.

It sounds like that fundraiser you worked on for a friend was a great success! Why not get someone else to officially organize one for you if it makes your husband uncomfortable for you to do it for yourselves. Then, you could do the behind the scenes work.

Taking out a loan could be a good thing, especially if you know that you'll have the money to pay it back from the tax credit. If you can't get a loan yourself, maybe a family member would help you?

Babysitting in your home

Teaching a class at Gymboree or something (where you could take the kids)

A friend of a friend did the big cooking thing as a second job for herself. Basically, she prepared enough for maybe 10 families or something (I don't know the specifics). She bought all the stuff at Sams' or something. She divided it all up - ready to freeze. People would pay her and get good, home cooked meals. Does this make any sense at all?

These are all such wonderful ideas. Thank you for all the resources and information you've provided thus far.

DH is submitting the request to add adoption benefits to his HR person this week (hopefully!) or next. If they are willing to add it, it would be a total life saver. However, if not, we'll be putting some type of saving/fund raising efforts into motion.
If anyone has additional information on fundraisers, please let me know! :)

Thank you! :hug:

I know there are yahoo groups for fundraising for adoption ~ one is called something like frugal adoption and the other is about fundraising for adoption. (something like that). The first one discusses ways to look at your personal finances and make adjustments to fund adoption. The second one has many ideas and resources on party plans that have fundraising ideas for adoption -- ideas on how to do a community dinner fundraiser ... etc ...

Sorry I don't have the specific links to them ... Good luck !!!


Karen

Okay, someone brought some negative feelings to my attention, and I guess I felt the need to clarify some points:

First, let me say that I am in no way asking for members of this community to fund my adoption. I'm sorry if it seemed that way. My husband and I were having a discussion about fundraising and I wanted an outsider's point of view, so I posted here to pose the question to people whom, I hoped, would give different perspectives on fundraising and saving for adoption.

Second, we are working our butts off to save and earn the money ourselves as well. A home equity loan is not an option because we just bought our first home last year and don't have much equity. We are applying for grants, but the funds are often very limited in those. We are hosting a garage sale, started collecting printer cartridges, are in contact with a pile of other fundraising groups, and are saving from our own budget by shaving what we can and reducing our expenses overall. We also are applying for DH's work to begin offering adoption benefits to all employees and are selling a car. We plan to pay everything we can out of our pockets.

Third, I never meant to make anyone feel badly about the fact that God has blessed us with biological children and we are moving foward with an adoption. Honestly, when my husband brought it to me, I thought he was nuts, too. We both adore children and come from big families, but I had never even considered buildling a family through adoption. Everyone I knew had adopted out of necessity due to infertility. He called that day, this stoic man, crying after hearing a story on Focus on the Family on the way to work. He asked if we could begin praying about it, and we did. Within a few months we both felt led by the Spirit, and called to adopt. Throughout the next year we began requesting information packets. We have spoken to people from every "big" agency we could find (Dillon, Holt, Bethany, Genesis, Children's Hope, CWA, All Gods Children, etc.) as well as the State agency that services our area. We narrowed our options and at times gave up hope that we'd ever adopt. We began our quest to adopt looking for a child in South Korea, but were unable to find an agency that could work in our area (we had to be within a certain number of miles from Chicago). We prayed about it again, and looked into other options. My husband has a terrible fear of failed domestic adoptions because there were problems when his brother was adopted, so he is adamantly opposed to that. Eventually, we feel the Lord brought us back to the calling and things started falling into place. We located a local attorney who has an agency, which gave my husband more peace than a facilitator. We finally, after a year of research, came to a decision to work with this agency and felt amazing peace with our prayerful decisions.

To be honest, I guess I didn't feel that you all would want to or need to know any of that, since it was just a question of "fundraising" - and because I didn't want to offend anyone by getting into a heavily-religious point of view (I know many are diverse faiths/beliefs here) I already belong to and read message boards on adopting and know the other ways we can save the money for this. But, I hoped maybe someone would have input on what an appropriate/ethical method of raising money would be (since I hear raffles are "illegal" and ebay has some kind of limitations from what I read in an auction a couple weeks ago).

I meant no harm - and I meant, by no means, that you should send us some sort of donation. I only meant to ask what you thought about an IRL fundraiser with our church, community, and DH's professional contacts.
But, since it seemed to raise so many concerns and problems with people, I guess I've gotten my answer.

Thank you.

A co-worker of my sisters has cancer and they asked for people to donate garage sale items instead of money. It was very easy to come up with an entire car full of donated items just from my family. They stored it at 3 different friends houses until the big weekends and made over 500 each weekend they put it all out.

I liked it because I wasn't in the position to donate money but I had a bunch of clothes and toys that my boys had grown out of.

:)Jenn