AdoptTogether Featured in PEOPLE Magazine

PEOPLE magazine recently named Hank Fortner as one of their “Heroes Among Us.” Hank stared AdoptTogether, an organization that allows would-be adoptive parents to invite their friends, family and strangers alike to help them meet the costs of adopting (which can reach up to $40,000). This is close to our heart as we have used AdoptTogether to raise funds for our next adoption (which we are still waiting on) and we have friends who have used it as well.

Here’s a couple of cool statistics that PEOPLE magazine highlighted::

 

• AdoptTogether has raised over $8.6 million to help people adopt.

 

• AdoptTogether has helped 2,100 couples, families and individuals open their homes to children in need.

 

There is a great article about AdoptTogether on the PEOPLE magazine website along with an interview with Hank. It is well worth your time!

Support Spring Break House Build Trip

We are looking forward to our Spring Break House Build Trip to Rocky Point, Mexico with 1MISSION. Currently we have twelve people committed to be a part of building a home for a family and are even looking to add a few more to our group before the end of January. The trip will take place March 28 – April 2.

To help raise the necessary funds for the trip, we will be providing a concession stand at a Karate Tournament hosted at WCC and during this season’s Upward Basketball games at the church.

You can support this trip by donating needed items for us to serve.  Anything that is donated will help defray the cost of the participants on our trip.

Here is a list of items that would assist our concessions:

12 ounce cans of soda (Pepsi, Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, etc.)

16.9 ounce bottles of water

All-Star size (12 oz) bottles of Gatorade

Homemade or Store Bought Cookies

Snack Size (1 ounce) bags of chips (Potato Chips, Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos, etc)

Little Debbie Snack Cakes

Candy Bars (Snickers, Baby Ruth, Milky Way, etc.)

Ring Pops, Sour Punch Straws and other individually wrapped candies

Whatever items are donated will be helpful to our group as we raise funds for the trip.  Currently, the cost per person is estimated at $1,200 which includes our airfare, vehicle rental and cost for housing and meals.

Feel free comment on this post or fill out the contact form below. Thanks!

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Adoption Fundraising Continues & We Are So Grateful

A couple of weeks ago I posted about our Adopt Together fundraising page. We also had a friend send out some letters on our behalf to help with our efforts. We also have a former student of mine who is doing a Thirty-One party for us. Through it all Cheryl and I have been humbled by those who have joined us in this next stage of our lives. We have received gifts from family, friends, a few “back in the day” friends and even some people who have joined us anonymously. Currently we are nearly 50% of the way toward our goal. Again, we are so grateful for those who have decided to partner with us.

Currently, we have received enough to pay for the renewal of our home study, to send the necessary fees to our attorney in Ohio and our attorney in Maryland. We had no idea what the response would be and we are blown away.

We are using the website Adopt Together and are so appreciative of that form of communication and safe place for people to give. This video gives a little bit of the back story of Adopt Together.

AdoptTogether “Meet The Family” from AdoptTogether on Vimeo.

For those who want to be a part of this, there are two ways you can be involved.

1.) Our Adopt Together Page. Again, Adopt Together is a non-profit group and they provide grants to families who want to adopt. The gifts that are given are tax-deductible. You can click on the image below to go to our page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2). Our Thirty-One Event. If you like Thirty-One products or want to buy something as a gift, check out the party This one closes on April 20 so it is concluding in just a few days. Click the image to go there.

 

 

 

 

 

We are again so thankful for those who are a part of this adoption journey.

Our Story of Adoption & How You Can Help

In the past few months I’ve posted about our Gotcha Day and how adoption has impacted our family. Max, who is almost 19 months old, will soon be joined by a little brother.

We have connected with a birth mom who is due June 22. We are making plans to travel to be present for the birth and to get to know the family. We have started the process to adopt again and have enlisted a great team here in Ohio and a great team in Maryland to assist us. Adopting Max happened very quickly and we pulled together various resources to pay for his adoption. Financially we need some help and we are using a non-profit fund-raising platform called Adopt Together to help us raise the necessary funds.

If you are someone (or you know someone) who has a heart for adoption, please visit our page. It tells a little bit more of our story about adoption and gives people an opportunity to help with the expenses. While this adoption won’t cost as much as Max’s adoption, we are seeking financial support.

To visit our Adopt Together page, click on the image below.  On our page, you will be able to read about our plans for adoption and how you can help if you feel led to do so.