Seriously progress in our adoption fundraising!

jillianmb · March 2012

Wanted to share our joy: DH and I held a breakfast fundraiser today for our adoption and we raised almost $4,500! (!!!) One little girl (5 years old) donated half her piggy bank to us; she came with a little baggy with $10 in change in it. I was so emotional when her mom told me the story; how sweet is that!?

The whole story is in my blog if you're interested, but here's a few pictures to share:

DH and I serving breakfast:

Signs with Russian on them!

Eating breakfast:

We are only about $3,500 away from our $35,000 goal! So exciting tonight. Thanks for reading!

Rachel Sonnier · March 2012

CONGRATULATIONS! THAT IS AWESOME!!

EclairAngst · March 2012

Wow!!! That is so exciting and inspirational! So close!!

[Deleted User] · March 2012

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cogbot · March 2012

That is wonderful! Congrats!

jillianmb · March 2012

Thanks!

Chele · March 2012

Awesome!

adoptingparent100 · March 2012

WOW that is great and what a wonderful story.

Art Teacher · March 2012

Wow- that's really great that you raised so much and that you are so close to your goal!

CaptainSerious · March 2012

Wow! What great news!

May I make a suggestion? If you can, try to raise some extra. We found that both our adoptions cost more than we were quoted, mostly because of fees not paid through the agency. It never hurts to have that extra cash on hand. If you don't need it, you can always use it for baby necessities, redistribute it to the donors, or even donate it to another family in the adoption process.

Good luck!

jillianmb · March 2012

CaptainSerious:
Wow! What great news!

May I make a suggestion? If you can, try to raise some extra. We found that both our adoptions cost more than we were quoted, mostly because of fees not paid through the agency. It never hurts to have that extra cash on hand. If you don't need it, you can always use it for baby necessities, redistribute it to the donors, or even donate it to another family in the adoption process.

Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestion! It is good to hear you say that because we still are going to apply for grants. Part of me worries that I'm being greedy by applying for grants even though we've already been given so much, but on the other hand, I know we are going to have some surprise expenses. We are already planning on using some of our tax refund (if we complete the adoption this year) to help another adoptive family. :-)

silliestbunny · March 2012

That's fantastic!!!

brewera · March 2012

I read your button that you were matched so quickly in your adoption...where do you live? what agency are you going though?

jillianmb · March 2012

brewera:
I read your button that you were matched so quickly in your adoption...where do you live? what agency are you going though?

We aren't officially matched yet; we are pursuing a specific waiting child who was on a special needs list- that's why we "know" who we're (hopefully) adopting. :-) We're in Michigan but we're going through a small agency in NJ b/c the little guy we're pursuing is affiliated with them.

missred75 · March 2012

Congratulations!!!! You're so close!

dmariehill · March 2012

jillianmb:
CaptainSerious:
Wow! What great news!

May I make a suggestion? If you can, try to raise some extra. We found that both our adoptions cost more than we were quoted, mostly because of fees not paid through the agency. It never hurts to have that extra cash on hand. If you don't need it, you can always use it for baby necessities, redistribute it to the donors, or even donate it to another family in the adoption process.

Good luck!
Thanks for the suggestion! It is good to hear you say that because we still are going to apply for grants. Part of me worries that I'm being greedy by applying for grants even though we've already been given so much, but on the other hand, I know we are going to have some surprise expenses. We are already planning on using some of our tax refund (if we complete the adoption this year) to help another adoptive family. :-)

Ditto on raising extra. Not sure if you're doing domestic or international, but in domestic adoption 1 in 5 adoptions fail as the mom decides to parent. It's so easy to forget that part.

Also, on a $35k adoption make sure you understand your BM expenses prior to signing the contract, and what's refundable.

I don't mean to be a downer, but ours failed 2 weeks ago. I just got the statement reconciliation today. We're out over 12k, not refunded, mostly in BM expenses. We knew it was a risk but no one involved expected this mom to parent. It was supposedly as close to a sure thing as you ever get. Now we need to come up with another 10k or more to try again.

Don't feel bad about going for the grants. Protect yourself as much as you can so that if you end up in that 20% you can keep trying.

Good luck!

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