Fundraising Opportunities

As I mentioned in my post about a week ago we have started fundraising efforts to help us bring Li Rose home.  Now I am willing to bet most or all of you have never heard of someone fundraising for an adoption.  If you have, you are among the rare few who have.  I am going to attempt to briefly explain why we are fundraising and then tell you about some opportunities to participate.

I think a good place to start with all of this is to explain why we are adopting in the first place.  Even before we were married, both Philip and I had a desire to adopt a child or children - more than a desire really, more of a calling to live out our faith through adoption (James 1:27).  It is easy to ignore the fact that more than 147 million children have no parents to love and care for them. While we do desire to add another child to our family, our desire goes far beyond that.  We believe that God has adopted each of us into his family, and we want to mirror that by welcoming Li Rose into our family.

The average cost of an international adoption is $25,000 to $35,000. That is a quite a chunk of change!!  We have been saving and pairing down our budget to the bare necessities to offset the cost. But lets be honest, it is still a large undertaking and we are trusting that God will provide the rest of the money we need to bring Li Rose home.

We understand that not everyone is called to adopt.  For those who are not called to adopt directly, we are asking for you to instead support us as we venture on this journey to meet our daughter and bring her home.  There are a variety of ways you can support us through prayer, financial support, and family support once we return.  We would love to hear from you and how you might support us during this incredible journey!

Fundraising Opportunities:

The first fundraising opportunity we have been given is though the selling of necklaces made in Uganda from recycled paper. By purchasing these necklaces, you are helping a mother in Uganda provide a sustainable income for her family as well as helping us bring Li Rose home. You can find more information about the women in Uganda and see pictures of the necklaces here.

The necklaces are very beautiful and versatile. They are very long, so you can wrap them around your neck two or three times, and they are very colorful, so they go with almost any outfit.  Below is an example of one of the necklaces.  There are additional pictures available by clicking the link above.

Several dear friend of ours, are selling these necklaces for us.  One of them, Sarah, is pre-selling each necklace for $20 (plus shipping if you do not live in Gainesville). You can email her at sbradateanu at gmail.com or leave her a message through this event on facebook.   **These would make great Christmas gifts!  Just think, you could finish your shopping by the end of the summer!**


If you are interested in selling necklaces in your local area, please let us know!!


The second opportunity is through the purchase of coffee from Just Love Coffee Roasters.  There is a banner on the side of our blog or you can go here.  Just Love Coffee Roasters sells fair trade coffee from all over the world. Through roasting Fair Trade Specialty coffees, Just Love uses proceeds to help an Ethiopian orphanage and families adopting not just from Ethiopia, but from anywhere in the world.  We receive $5 from each bag of coffee you purchase. 

We can't tell you how much we appreciate each of you and the impact you have had and are having on our lives.  We are so thankful for you and look forward to continuing to share our journey to our daughter with you.  We long to have Li Rose in our arms - we pray that day will come quickly!