Our first bake sale was such a great success and the love and support we felt far outweighed any dollar amount we could have collected. That being said, we did want to let you, our friends, family and in some cases, strangers, know exactly what you really purchased when you walked away with your box of cake truffles or bag of cookies.
Where Melissa is from, children with special needs are often deemed ‘defective’. Abandonment is acceptable and often preferable if a child is born with challenges and many of these children end up in orphanages shortly after birth. Around the age of four or five they are then transferred to mental institutions. These children live in inhumane conditions and many die within the first year of being transferred. At age 5, Melissa’s community had decided she wasn’t worth much and she was facing institutionalization because she has ‘global delays/Cerebral Palsy’. Not only was she up against terrible odds, she was doing all of it without the love and comfort of a family.
When a family begins their journey with Reece’s Rainbow, they are asked to fill out a form and contribute a financial ‘love gift’ to the child they are seeking to adopt. Once this is done, the family is considered committed to her and the wheels are put into motion. *With all of the money we earned with the bake sale, we were able to officially commit to Melissa! That commitment likely saved her from being institutionalized!* Hopefully, they will be able to keep her in the orphanage instead of transferring her while we get all of our paperwork and such in order to go bring her home!
With all of the good and bad news that I’ve shared on here, this post took the longest to write. As uncomfortable as it is for us to ask for financial gifts, the fact of the matter is that the process of international adoption is a pricey one. We still have a long road ahead of us and we have a lot of fundraising left to do. We will possibly have another bake sale, possibly a raffle; the wheels are still turning…
We are able to take donations through our Family Sponsorship Page through Reece’s Rainbow. Because Reece’s Rainbow is a charitable organization, any donation made to our Family Sponsorship Page is completely tax deductible and is put into a grant that means the money will only be used to fund Melissa’s adoption. The only downside is we don’t get to know who donates through the page so we have no way of thanking you personally, which we really wished we could do!
We’d love to find a happy medium that allows people to get the tax deduction while helping us thank and give back something to those that are helping bring Melissa out of the grips of a society that thinks she is defective and into the loving home she needs and deserves! If anyone has any ideas or would like to help in any other way, please let us know!
And for those that attended in February, and bought some of these….
Here is your receipt… <3
i just got a chance to read through your recent posts. i am in awe by your humility and compassion. for me it's her beautiful dark brown eyes and hair that makes it seem like she is just absolutely perfect for your family. and u should definitely have another bake sale!
ReplyDelete