Kickoff of Our Adoption Fundraising: an in depth look at what's to come

So in my last post I wanted to share with you guys my thinking and open up my heart a bit.  I wanted you to know where I am at.   So if you missed that post, please take some time and have a look back. 

This post however, is something I am very, very, very excited about.   It’s the kickoff of our adoption fundraising!  Selling pizza hut cards and cookie dough in high school, I never ever thought I would be excited about a fundraiser-pretty much ever.  But this one is different.  This post is hope.   This post is light at the end of a long dark tunnel.  This post/fundraiser is more of an opportunity for you- not to help a couple adopt, but to help a child find a home.  Please take us out of this equation.  It is to help there be one less orphan.  Maybe you can’t adopt right now, but God calls us all to do something. Maybe you can’t help the 143 million orphans worldwide, but maybe you can help this one child- our future son or daughter.

 If you read the last post, you also read where we are at financially. I definitely wish fundraising wasn’t necessary and that we could pay for this up front. And my promise to you is that we will also make sacrifices and save as much as we can.  We will also be applying for grants as soon as we are able in the process.    

If we lived in a perfect world- all children would have homes and adoption wouldn’t be needed.  

If we lived in a little less than perfect world- adoptions would be free. 

If we lived in an even less than perfect world- adoptions would at least be affordable. 

 

But alas- this is our world…. Very far from perfect.   

The Numbers:

To start this post off I would like to tell you exactly where the money is going and give you full transparency there.  Adoptions are definitely expensive.  International even more so.   Few people are surprised it’s expensive, but a lot of people wonder why the expense. 

There are fees associated with application, country, home study, legal documents, notarization, translating, background checks, fingerprinting, visas, travel, and much more.   The money will go into our agency, to local and state governments, various institutions in Thailand etc.  Social workers also need to eat and orphanage nannies or foster parents need at least some compensation for those countless feedings in the middle of the night.  And unfortunately airlines just won’t fly you for free.
 

So in real numbers we will need around 28,000 possibly a little more for our entire adoption.
 

And that number seems impossible. And intimidating. So I like to break it up into a timeline. 

• Before Referral
• At time of referral
• Travel
• Post Placement

Before Referral:   This is our first goal-still a huge number but much smaller than overall.  We will need around $7,000, possibly a bit more because we will be paying for post placement visits in this as well.  Within this our application, our home study, US Processing Fee, fingerprinting, and USCIS application is included.   All of these are due within a few months of each other.  

 

At time of referral: We will have possibly a few years before this next huge chunk is due, so hopefully plenty of time to save and fundraise.  This chunk is 12,360 and includes our adoption program fee.  We might have a bit more involved before we can travel including an adoption home study update- so this number could go up a bit.

Travel:  Travel is estimated around $6-8,000.

Post Placement:   There are legal fees and a finalization process. 

So those are all the numbers friends.  And alas the task before us.  My main focus right now however is on that first big number. 

Haha... And this is when I begin humming the "Impossible Dream" lyrics... "To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe... this is my quest to follow that star, no matter how hopeless no matter how far..."

So, What’s the plan?

It’s been my dream for a while to open an etsy store to help us fundraise for this adoption.  I opened a store called House Down South and all proceeds will be going towards our adoption.  That’s %100 of earnings.  I’ll be selling original paintings in my style-which is somewhat impressionist.  The theme of all of these will be the encouragement of others.  Most will have sayings or verses, or will be based on some fond memories from my childhood that I want my future child to experience. My theme is “Wooden art from this Southern Girl’s heart.”   These will be done on wooden blocks instead of your typical canvas- I like to be original- in two sizes.  One to which is 6x6 you can sit on a table or shelf with a burlap topper.  One more like a plank that you can hang with wire. 

I’ll be selling the art throughout the duration of the adoption, so you can look for new designs frequently along the way!   I’ll be putting my first group up- which are Christmas themed on my store in the following days.  It will be announced on Instagram and Facebook.  I’ve shown a few for preview in the past week if you have caught those.   Only the 6x6 will be available for now, I chose to focus on these because of the short time before Christmas.   They will be priced at $30.   It’s a bit more than I was comfortable with/wanted to charge, but with selling fees and taxes each will bring around $20 towards our adoption at that price.  And these are for our adoption!

This will be my main fundraiser and one we will have going throughout this process.  So please, please, please, check it out.  Follow me.  And share share share with friends.

We will also have a donate button on our site. I know that some may not want to buy a painting, or may not can afford to.  We welcome any amount.   If God leads you, we would love to receive donations for this fund.   You can donate by card using this, or mail us a check- just email me for an address ha for security reasons I don’t want to post that info. 

Another part I am excited about!

I wanted a way for everyone to know how close we were to reaching our goals. 

Though a really sad picture- I apologize for the quality there... This is a large "blank" canvas filled with 1,400 triangles hand drawn on of varying sizes.  (yeah it’s hard to get them all on there!) Thankful to my wonderful husband for his patience and love of math to help to get this going. 

Each triangle is worth $20.   

1,400 triangles=$28,000 OR One Fully Funded Adoption

When someone donates $20 or buys a painting, or when we get money into our fund through grants or savings or anything in general…. I will paint a triangle.  

I’ll update this at least once a month if not sooner, so you can view our progress and cheer us on.

I’m in love with this idea… First off because I love paintings.   Second because I love getting reminded of our progress on a daily basis and seeing the love from everyone along this way.  Thirdly because this is such an amazing, awesome way to show our child in the future how much they were completely loved and how much the community rallied to help us bring them home.   Fun and dorky story- but as a kid I always was curious about secret passageways or hopeful in my imagination that I could flip over a painting and learn it was very special.   This will be that painting for my future child.

For anyone who donates any amount or who buys a painting your name will also be written on the back of this painting. Please specify when you donate or buy what name you would like written (example Delk Family instead of just Susan).  

We will also most likely sell T-shirts, have some yard sales, and other fun events in the future that I will announce at a separate time.   I say that to say- please don’t feel obligated to participate in every single one of our fundraiser projects.   We just want to have a variety of things so that everyone can help in some way if they so choose.  I know a lot of people get bogged down with this, and you’ll most likely be hearing about fundraisers a lot. We definitely appreciate your help, gifts, and love in any way you can contribute.

What can you Do?

Pray For our family, our fundraising efforts, and this entire process. Help financially if able and God leads.  Buy paintings.  Volunteer time in future events.  Share share share on social media.   Please, please sign up to follow my blog for updates. Please please follow me on Instagram: @delkshouseofgrace for lots of updates, new designs, and posts in my store and please tell all your friends to as well!  The more followers I have the more I can reach new people with my etsy shop. 

Thank each and every one of you in advance :)  Will and I are so blessed to have you in our lives.