“But I can only give $5. What good will that do?“
Ever since I started actively raising funds for Noble, several people have asked what good will their $5 or $10 do. They know how much adoption costs–can be as high as $25,000 or more, depending on the specific adoption. For some, their contribution is so small that it doesn’t seem worth it to the adopting family.
(While we’ve experienced adoption fundraising and got far into the process, we weren’t able to complete our adoption as the little girl we accepted became ill just as our court documents arrived in India; the powers-that-be removed her from the adoption list.)
When we were adopting, we needed $25,000–that included:
- agency fee
- adoption fee
- travel fees
- Apostilles
- passport fees
- Immigration fees
- lodging
- home study
- a donation to the orphanage
- medical fees, etc.
We were so focused on the larger costs, that the smaller costs blind-sided us.
We need another $10 to mail this?
There are many small expenses that add up:
- fuel for vehicles–it felt as though we drove hundreds of miles a day to collect info
- phone expenses
- requesting documents and papers from friends and family
- ordering birth certificates (for every person in the family–no copies allowed)
- ordering marriage certificates (we had to have several originals–no copies allowed)
- copying papers–sometimes we walked out of the copy center with well over 300 pages to sort
- shipping costs that felt never-ending
- Towards the end of the process, we were required to overnight any and all documents and papers and there were several different mailings and changes that were needed. Overnight shipping adds up fast.
- Last minute pictures. We needed passport pictures, not for our passports but for the orphanage liaison meeting us at the airport. And pictures of our house! For some reason, everyone needed pictures of our house!
- Taking little gifts for the staff and other children in the orphanage was appreciated and expected. We certainly didn’t want to show up empty-handed.
- While we were in India, we would also need funds to pay for travel within the country, meals, gratuities, etc.
As you can see, there were several little things that we hadn’t taken into consideration.
So whenever I received a note that someone donated $20, $10 or yes, even $5, I felt a sense of relief. Those small amounts came in just as we needed to mail out something, make more copies, or cover another unexpected expense.
The generosity given has already touched me greatly! I’m beyond thrilled that Noble’s Angel Tree Fund has reached the minimum amount, and I’d love to see it reach the $2500. Most importantly, though, I’d love to see his picture among the “My Family Found Me.”
All of the funds in Noble’s account will go directly towards his adoption. The more funds a child has, the closer a family is to bringing him or her home.
So whether you donate to Noble, another child on the Angel Tree, or you know a friend who is adopting, please don’t think that your ultra-modest gift won’t make a difference. It will.
If you feel led to adopt or want more info on adopting Noble, please e-mail debbie @ reecesrainbow.org.
Sharing with A Proverbs 31 Wife, The Modest Mom, Happy and Blessed Home, Raising Mighty Arrows, Raising Arrows, We are That Family, Deep Roots at Home, Raising Homemakers, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Walking Redeemed, Cornerstone Confessions, Growing Home and Time Warp Wife.
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Obviously I haven’t kept up with your adoption story, but I’m wondering, where are you going now? Still trying to adopt the little girl, or another child? Or just waiting?
This was back in 2007, and our adoption approval expired in 2010. We learned we were expecting our 4th child in early 2008, so no longer qualified for India due to family size limits of adoptive families. We may reopen the doors to adoption later on, but family size will definitely be a hinderance