The perfect stocking stuffer for all budgets!

This week I blogged about the wonderful problem I have of my son already having too much stuff and the generous friends and family that want to give more. 

Well, a few months ago Dibs! shared a story about Anastasia M. and it has stuck with me ever since. 

So, here is what I decided to do:

• I made sure her story was legit:
• I looked into the organization that they are adopting through and made sure they were legit.
• I emailed the family who wrote a very detailed email back about what they have done to raise funds and where they were at (they have $6,000 right now and need $24,000 more).
• I made cards to give to friends and family with how to donate on the back and blanks on the front for them to return to my son as his gift.
• Here is a generic version in pdf to use as is. (if you have actual design skills and want to re-design this, I would be MORE than happy to re-post!)
• I also have the word docs, but couldn't link them. If you are interested email me at budget4baby at gmail dot com and I will send them to you that way.
• I found a photo album for him to keep all of his cards in. Hopefully, we will keep doing this every year and by the time he is older have a book full of adopted children!

Here is the email Anna's US mom sent to me:
We are adopting Anna through Reece's Rainbow and here is our family sponsor page  http://www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorwilliams.html  We found Anna through their organization and have committed to adopt her.  I have followed other families for over two years before having the nerve to ask my husband about our family adopting a child through Reece's Rainbow.  :)  We also have an 11 year old daughter named Ashlyn with Down syndrome and she is the reason our family has the desire to rescue another little girl like her.

Here is a break down of our fund raising efforts and the reason they look different to you.  The page on RR shows $677 because that is how much people have donated from different fund raisers we have had and also from people that we don't know, but wanted to donate to help bring her home.  These donations went straight to RR and will be sent to pay for her adoption fees once we travel.  She also has another fund through Reece's Rainbow that was established before we committed to her and the total for that is $573 so that is over $1300 waiting for her through Reece's Rainbow.  The $241 that you see  on my blog is how much people have donated to the CURRENT prize give away of an iPad that will end December 15th.  When that one expires we will draw for that prize On Dec 15th,  in order for it to be given to someone before Christmas!!   Every time we have a new give away we have to start a new "chip in" because you have to have an expiration date for each fundraiser.  Our last fundraiser chip in brought in over $2,000... that is when we gave away an iPad and an iPod touch.  OUr adoption will be over $30,000 and so far with all of the fundraisers, the money that has been donated to RR and checks that we still have to turn in to RR is over $6,000!!   That is why you see our chip in at $24,000 left to raise.  We have had bake sales at work, thirty one purse party, sold cookie dough, sold sphagetti dinners at work, etc. We are trying so hard to raise the money to go and get her!!

If you look here http://reecesrainbow.org/category/rescued  She is all the way at the bottom of this page.... We aren't supposed to put their name and country on our blog due to privacy issues so we have shortened her name to Anna.  We are only allowed to say she is from Eastern Europe.  They say that officias from their country do look around on the internet and that we could get into trouble by listing her real name and country.
This link above shows you that she has $573 at RR, this is the money that was donated to her before we committed to her.  I don't know their reasoning, but when a child has a committed family they start a new page and the money raised from that point starts at zero so that you can see how much we have raised and how much that is donated AFTER we committed.  I know that sounds weird, but if you look at both links I gave you, you will see that the totals are different.

Here is a link to show that will show you Reece's Rainbow in People Magazine this year if you want to see if the organization is real.  You can also email Andrea Roberts and ask about our family if you would like to make sure that we are legitamate.  http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20350685,00.html  Her contact information can be found on the Reece's Rainbow website.

Also, any donations made directly to Reece's Rainbow are tax deductible.  So if anyone would rather donate straight to RR to feel "safer" that would be awesome!  They just need to make sure they add "Anastasia M. for the Williams family" or they don't know which child to apply the donation to.

Thank you so much for inquiring and considering to help us bring Anna home!  If there are any more questions you would like to ask, feel free to email me :)


You can read more about their story at:


http://steppingoutinfaith-williamsjourney.blogspot.com/

Thanks Dibs! and Inner Hooker for sharing her story!
Please feel free to copy or link to this content and share it on your blog!