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Financing An Adoption


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I haven't had a yard sale to help fund adopting a child, but I have had several to help fund pet rescue organizations. We always sell water - it sells almost as much as the other stuff we are selling. Buy lots of liquid refreshments (coke, water, etc.).

We decorated the area with signs explaining why we were having the yard sale. We put up pictures of the animals we had already adopted - you may chose to put up a picture collage of your family with an empty seat.

We had a pretty good turn out both years we have done this. Be careful not to get your hopes up though. We have had things stolen from us both years and some people don't care what the cause is, they just want a good bargain (something for nothing). Put your armor on and let me know how it goes! I'm thinking of trying it to help with #2.

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For all of you that have had garage/yard sales as a fundraiser, I ask your help. Do you have any suggestions for me? I plan to put up a sign that says something about why we are having the sale. I figured that would also allow people to see that if the prices were not dirt cheap, that's why. At the same time, I don't want to over price things. I think yard sales can be kinda fun. I thought I'd also sell some soda's in case people were thirsty. It's very hot here!

We have also applied for some grants and plan to apply for some more. My only concern is that they will assume because we are both employed that we should have enough funds for the adoption. A lot has changed in the last few years, moving into a new home, adopting our first child... whew that took a lot out of us.

Third, hopefully the adoption tax credit from Dante's adoption will help us too! We are banking on that one!!

Looking forward to hearing your ideas,

Claudia

Claudia,

We had a hige sign up in the garage that said why we were having a yard sale. I also put a add in our local newspaper stating the cause of the yard sale. A friend of ours also called a local radio station during the sale and talk about it on the radio.

We sold chips and drinks. We did really well. A lot of people would tell us to keep the change when they bought something for $1 and gave us $25. I was shocked at how kind everyone was to us.

Hope you have a sale!!!

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Wow! Thank ALL of you so much for your candor. Now I feel a little more comfortable about a realist figure. I also appreciated the mention of borrowing against a 401K account. I like the idea of paying myself back instead of paying the bank.

As all of you know, the adoption process is exciting, exhausting, exhilarating and scary. I feel guilty letting finances influence our adoption experience. But, it is a fact that finances do play a part in adoption... it is one of the reason we waited so long to proceed. I am very happy to hear that Abrazo is judicious of our budgetary constraints.

We have already allocated funds towards our homestudy and travel. I don't think I planned adequately for travel because I didn't think of the trip to meet the birthparents. All of this information is very helpful.

On a "Baby shopping note" ... I find myself walking down the baby isle in the grocery store and looking at formula. I also stare at the diapers wondering which ones I will need to buy. I've limited myself to one specialty coffee a week and am putting the money I would have spent in my "diaper" jar. I keep looking at baby clothes and no longer am interested in buying any new clothes for me... can't wait to spoil our new baby! (of course, I want to spoil the baby without raising a spoiled child... :rolleyes: how do we accomplish this? :D )

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I believe you can spoil a child with hugs and kisses! Do you know that in this entire year that Dante has been our son, we have only bought him one real toy. The rest of the toys were given to him for his Birthday... and that's because we asked, no gifts please. I buy him clothes at Target or Marshalls, but for special occasions, I'll get him something that tends to be more expensive. I want him to enjoy life, but not because it is dependant on an expensive toy, video game etc. I think my parent's did a fine job of instilling in me the value of a dollar and how to respect having "anything". I think if we continue to note in our minds what we are instilling in our children then we will be alright.

Claudia

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  • 3 weeks later...

Marcelo and I haven't even opened up for business... for the Yard Sale that is and we already made $100.00. My sister, future brother-in-law, sister-in-law and friend bought stuff. I gave them a discount of course, but they also insisted and me not going too cheap! My sister-in-law and I priced a lot of stuff last night and will continue tomorrow evening. So far, it looks good, but we'll see how the weather holds up. I'll let you know how it goes!

Claudia

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You Go Claudia & Marcelo, You garage sale guro's. With all this advice I'm thinking maybe I should sell our stuff!! I'm praying for all the good to come out of this for ya'll! It's such a pleasure to know ya'll! Lovin Every Minute and Waiting for MORE! Nita

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Even though I posted our Yard Sale results on our family thread, I thought I would mention it here as well in order to get those prospective AP's motivated. We got the idea of a family and friends yard sale from many of you on the Forum. We gave out a personal letter to our family letting them know we would be starting our second adoption early 2007. In the letter, I noted that we would be having a yard sale with proceeds to help with the adoption expenses. I just asked if they had any goods they wanted to rid their house of, we would appreciate the donation and be glad to pick them up. We also told close friends and co-workers. We never expected the return! Long story short, we made almost $1,000.00 in one day! Maybe, it's not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but I can think of many expensed it COULD cover. It's definately well worth it if you can get some help. Good luck on your journey!

Claudia :P:D:lol:;)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Some additional resources that may be of assistance to those in need:

Funds 4 Families

http://www.funds4families.com/. Phone: (800) 451-3372. Offers info on home loans such as home equity plans, debt consolidation plans and refinancing plans.

The National Adoption Foundation

http://www.nafadopt.org/NafGrants.htm Phone: (203) 791-3811. (For unsecured loans, call (800) 626-2760; for secured loans (800) 841-1982.) Offers grants ranging from $500 to $4,000 to prospective adoptive parents 4 times a year.

Bright Futures Adoption Assistance Foundation

http://www.homestead.com/brightfutures

Gift of Adoption Fund

http:// www.jsw-adoption.org/ Phone: 262/268-1386 or 877/905-2367. Grants ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 for families adopting children with serious medical issues and for low-income families.

A Child's Desire

http://www.achildsdesire.org/fundraising.htm Fundraising program for adopting families.

Hebrew Free Loan Association

http://www.hflasf.org/adopt-loans.html Interest-free adoption loans for Jewish families with financial need and strong desire to adopt.

Shaohanna's Hope

http://www.shaohannahshope.com/Grants.htm Phone: 1-800-784-5361. Offers grants of up to $7K for prospective Christian parents already in the process of adopting.

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  • 1 month later...

Just another creative way to raise money to cover the cost of adoption. :P

This story was on CNN.com today.

Ohio couple may have just the ticket for adoption

CANTON, Ohio (AP) -- With fans scrambling to obtain tickets to Saturday's Michigan-Ohio State football game, a couple is auctioning off their seats to raise money to adopt a boy from Guatemala.

Ken and Kristie Sigler have season tickets in the closed end of Ohio Stadium, about 10 rows from the field. They have put the two tickets up for sale on eBay, hoping the payout helps defray the $12,500 cost to begin processing their adoption paperwork.

They set the minimum bid at $1,000, with an option to purchase the tickets directly for $1,500. No bids had been made as of early Tuesday.

At first, the couple thought it would be difficult for them to sell the tickets, but with adoption fees mounting -- costs total about $30,000, including the paperwork fee -- the decision became easier.

The top-ranked Buckeyes and second-ranked Wolverines are both undefeated, and the winner advances to the national championship game.

"It's just one day, one game, compared to changing this little boy's life with us," Kristie Sigler said.

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Ohio couple may have just the ticket for adoption

"It's just one day, one game, compared to changing this little boy's life with us," Kristie Sigler said.

As the wife to a true-blue Michigan fan, I have to say that I found this story really touching!! I hope their efforts are very successful!!

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Here's an unfortunate follow-up to the ticket auction:

Woman says eBay shut down football ticket auction intended to help raise money for adoption

CANTON, Ohio (AP) -- A woman says eBay has shut down her sale of two tickets to

Saturday's Michigan-Ohio State football game that she and her husband had hoped

would help them raise money to adopt a boy from Guatemala.

Kristie Sigler and her husband, Ken, put their season tickets, about 10 rows

from the field, on the Internet auction site hoping the payout would help defray

the $12,500 cost to begin processing their adoption paperwork.

But Sigler said eBay canceled the sale Wednesday, saying it violated its policy

on charitable auctions.

"They never called, never e-mailed us or anything. They took it off and said

because we were using the auction as fundraiser for the adoption, it violated their

policy," Kristie Sigler told The Repository newspaper in Thursday's editions.

According to its Web site, eBay has specific guidelines for charitable

fundraising because the area is subject to many state and federal laws. A message

seeking comment from the company was left early Thursday.

The couple had been offered as much as $1,550 for the tickets by Wednesday

afternoon.

"I'm most concerned that people will think we weren't being genuine," Sigler

said. "We're still selling the tickets."

The tickets are now listed on the Web site dreamseats.com.

The top-ranked Buckeyes and second-ranked Wolverines are both undefeated, and

the winner advances to the national championship game.

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Here's an unfortunate follow-up to the ticket auction:

Woman says eBay shut down football ticket auction intended to help raise money for adoption

CANTON, Ohio (AP) -- A woman says eBay has shut down her sale of two tickets to

Saturday's Michigan-Ohio State football game that she and her husband had hoped

would help them raise money to adopt a boy from Guatemala.

Kristie Sigler and her husband, Ken, put their season tickets, about 10 rows

from the field, on the Internet auction site hoping the payout would help defray

the $12,500 cost to begin processing their adoption paperwork.

But Sigler said eBay canceled the sale Wednesday, saying it violated its policy

on charitable auctions.

"They never called, never e-mailed us or anything. They took it off and said

because we were using the auction as fundraiser for the adoption, it violated their

policy," Kristie Sigler told The Repository newspaper in Thursday's editions.

According to its Web site, eBay has specific guidelines for charitable

fundraising because the area is subject to many state and federal laws. A message

seeking comment from the company was left early Thursday.

The couple had been offered as much as $1,550 for the tickets by Wednesday

afternoon.

"I'm most concerned that people will think we weren't being genuine," Sigler

said. "We're still selling the tickets."

The tickets are now listed on the Web site dreamseats.com.

The top-ranked Buckeyes and second-ranked Wolverines are both undefeated, and

the winner advances to the national championship game.

O.K., I understand there are policies to follow, but it truly makes me so angry that there are so many road blocks to adopting sometimes. Good people want a family and want to parent, (and will be great parents for that matter) and children need a forever family... and yet, we still see all these problems. I would have a lot more to say, but there is no one to bleep me out.

I wish this family the best in completing their financial goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited by MarceloandClaudia
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Hey, Abrazo families in Ohio! Why not contact this couple and advise them that in Texas, we can "begin processing adoption paperwork" without a $12,500 upfront free?! :huh:

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  • 4 weeks later...

The San Antonio Express-News today ran a story about The Costs of Adopting. (I've already fired off a letter to the editor objecting to the claim that international adoption is more popular because it usually happens quicker... go figure! Tell that to the thousands of applicants whose international adoption dreams get held up each year by frequently-changing laws in other countries-- like Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Guatamala, etc.) :o

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The San Antonio Express-News today ran a story about The Costs of Adopting. (I've already fired off a letter to the editor objecting to the claim that international adoption is more popular because it usually happens quicker... go figure! Tell that to the thousands of applicants whose international adoption dreams get held up each year by frequently-changing laws in other countries-- like Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Guatamala, etc.) :o

Elizabeth,

Is this story about Interrnational Adoption very very real for us.... They must be kidding. Just at you said..

We were in the International Adoption ride for 2 1/2 years and shutting down for one reason or the other then to find out the laws were changing and the story goes... Well thank goodness we found Abrazo..

Also do they talk about the lack of information you don't have on the birth parents and how much $$$$ you have to carry with you to a strange country.... It just never felt right....

Just my 2 cents.

Linda

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The San Antonio Express-News today ran a story about The Costs of Adopting. (I've already fired off a letter to the editor objecting to the claim that international adoption is more popular because it usually happens quicker... go figure! Tell that to the thousands of applicants whose international adoption dreams get held up each year by frequently-changing laws in other countries-- like Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Guatamala, etc.) :o

Obviously, they talked to the wrong San Antonio based adoption agency!

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wasn't there a BIG national story about China changing their laws just this week, saying additional info would be need on all currently-in-process adoptions and all future adoptions??? Not that i disagree with the health requirement, but the "no single parents" clause is rediculous!!

I hate this type of thing.. it makes domestic adoption seem "unheard of" to pregnant girls who don't know their options.

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I just received this in an E-Mail today from a friend. Just thought I would share it with everybody

The Price of Children

This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely positive for a change.

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child,

but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 to be $160,140 for a middle income family.

Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year, or

* $741.38 a month, or

* $171.08 a week.

* That's a mere $24.24 a day!

* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is "if you want to be 'rich', don't have children.

Act ually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!

* Glimpses of God every day.

* Giggles under the covers every night.

* More love than your heart can hold.

* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.

* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites

* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or

how your stocks performed t hat day

For $160,140, you never have to grow up.

You get to:

* finger-paint,

* carve pumpkins,

* play hide-and-seek,

* catch lightning bugs, and

* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:

* keep reading "The Adventures of Piglet and Pooh" ,

* watch Saturday morning cartoons,

* go to Disney movies,

and

* wish upon a star.

You also get to:

* frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator ma gnets,

and collect:

* spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas,

* hand prints set in clay or Mother's Day, and

* cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no bigger bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,

* taking the training wheels off a bike,

* removing a splinter,

* filling a wading pool,

* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and

* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness history:

* her first step,

* his first word,

* her first bra,

* his first date, and

* their first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal.

You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky,

a long list of limbs called grandchildren and great grandchildren in your obituary

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and

human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God.

You have the power to:

* heal a boo-boo,

* scare away the monsters under the bed,

* patch a broken heart,

* police a slumber party,

* ground them forever, and

* love them without limits...

so that one day they, like you, will love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!

.

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I just received this in an E-Mail today from a friend. Just thought I would share it with everybody

The Price of Children

This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely positive for a change.

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child,

but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 to be $160,140 for a middle income family.

Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year, or

* $741.38 a month, or

* $171.08 a week.

* That's a mere $24.24 a day!

* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is "if you want to be 'rich', don't have children.

Act ually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!

* Glimpses of God every day.

* Giggles under the covers every night.

* More love than your heart can hold.

* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.

* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites

* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or

how your stocks performed t hat day

For $160,140, you never have to grow up.

You get to:

* finger-paint,

* carve pumpkins,

* play hide-and-seek,

* catch lightning bugs, and

* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:

* keep reading "The Adventures of Piglet and Pooh" ,

* watch Saturday morning cartoons,

* go to Disney movies,

and

* wish upon a star.

You also get to:

* frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator ma gnets,

and collect:

* spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas,

* hand prints set in clay or Mother's Day, and

* cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no bigger bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,

* taking the training wheels off a bike,

* removing a splinter,

* filling a wading pool,

* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and

* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness history:

* her first step,

* his first word,

* her first bra,

* his first date, and

* their first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal.

You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky,

a long list of limbs called grandchildren and great grandchildren in your obituary

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and

human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God.

You have the power to:

* heal a boo-boo,

* scare away the monsters under the bed,

* patch a broken heart,

* police a slumber party,

* ground them forever, and

* love them without limits...

so that one day they, like you, will love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!

.

Jada I just loved this.....Thanks for posting

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  • 2 weeks later...

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