Fundraising Finale

Pam ~ We are still a couple thousand dollars short of what we are estimating that we will need for all of our travel expenses, so we still have a few fundraisers that you can participate in to help with our expenses. We are nearing the end of this long journey to our daughter!!!!

Pampered Chef ~ This is only an option until 9 p.m. (CST) tonight!!!! Go to www.PamperedChef.biz/DrucksKitchen and click on "shop online". Enter "Maxwell" for the first name and "Adoption" for the last name. We will receive 15% of your order to put toward our adoption travel expenses.

Soda Cans/Bottles ~ We are still accepting donations of your soda cans/bottles. We will recycle them and put the redemption money towards our travel expenses.

Photo Scanning ~ I will take your old photos and scan them onto a CD so that you have a digital copy of all your memories. Click HERE for more information.

Handmade Birthday Cards ~ We still have lots of special handmade birthday cards available for purchase. Click HERE for more information and for photos of the cards that are still available.

Just Love Coffee ~ We receive $5 for every bag of coffee purchased from our store. Click HERE to go to our Just Love Coffee store to buy some extra yummy coffee AND help us with our travel expenses!!!!

Handmade Birthday Cards

You may remember way back last September (almost a year ago now) we started a fundraiser selling handmade cards.  In the last year, we have sold a few packets of cards, but not very many.  So we are revamping this fundraiser and are going to try again.

Here are the Birthday Cards we have for sale.  We are asking for $2.50 per card, OR you may purchase 5 cards for $10 ($2 per card).  Just leave a comment or e-mail me (hearts1982@gmail.com) with the number(s) of the card(s) you would like.  If you are local to the Des Moines area, we can arrange drop-off / pick-up of the cards/payment.  If you would like to have the cards mailed to you, we are asking for an extra $1 to help with shipping costs and you may pay via a mailed check OR using our PayPal button located on the right sidebar.  If you choose to pay via PayPal, please be sure to include a note that it is for our handmade card fundraiser (and e-mail me the numbers of the cards you would like to purchase).

In addition to numbering each birthday card, I have also included how many of each card we have available.  #15 is available in green, yellow, pink & orange.  #16 is available in blue, yellow, orange, green & pink.  #21 is available in pink, blue & yellow.

Sold Out!!                                    #2 (1x)

#3 (3x)                                       #4 (1x)

#5 (1x)                                      #6 (4x)

#7 (1x)                                    #8 (1x)

Sold Out!!                                #10 (2x)

Sold Out!!                              Sold Out!!

Sold Out!!                         Sold Out!!

#15 (7x)                                  #16 (11x)

#17 (5x)                                         #18 (1x)

#19 (8x)                                            #20 (2x)

#21 (11x)

Fund-Raising Friday + An Adoption Update

Look at our thermometer!!!  Just LOOK at it!!!  We are now just $821 away from reaching our referral total!!!  (Insert SCREAMING here!!!!!!)  Our prayer has continued to be that God would allow us to have the full referral amount completely saved before getting our referral phone call and WE ARE ALMOST THERE!!!!  Can you guess what our prayer is going to be once that thermometer is FULL?!?!?

We still have $602 left on our matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans and we are praying that we might have that amount raised before our deadline of April 15th. 

*Make checks payable to ~ Lifesong for Orphans
*Memo Line ~ preference Maxwell/#1731 adoption
*Mail to ~ Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St., Gridley, IL 61744
OR
*Pay online via PayPal ~ click HERE
*Make a note ~ preference Maxwell/#1731 adoption

We are also continuing to raise money via our "miscellaneous" fundraisers ~ soda cans, "Just Love Coffee" store, hand-made cards, and Faith and Grace quilts.  Just click on any of the names for more information on how YOU can help.

AND..............................................

I have an update from our agency (AWAA) on the adoption situation in Ethiopia.  You might remember that I told you HERE that Ethiopian adoptions were going to be reduced by about 90%.  We were VERY disappointed and yes, even a little discouraged by this news.  But we have been fervent in our prayers that God would work this situation out for His honor and glory and that His will would be done, not only in OUR adoption journey, but in the lives of the estimated 4.8 million orphans in Ethiopia.  You DID read that number correctly.  In 2005, the UNICEF estimated that there were 4.8 MILLION orphans in Ethiopia.  Six years later, that number is probably much higher.

On to the good news :-).  Here is the e-mail we received this past Wednesday from our family coordinator.

Dear Nate & Pam,

We are writing to update you on the current situation in Ethiopia.  While meetings between Ethiopian government officials continue, we have seen positive steps.  Within MOWA, there have been significant and positive personnel changes which have resulted in overall staff turnover and changes in the adoption unit.  This unit is now called the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affiars (MOWCYA).  We are hopeful and expectant that the new leadership will not only support processing an adequate number of favorable recommendation letters, but also implement policies that will best serve the children.  Due to the staffing changes, we anticipate much transition over the next few weeks.  However, we expect that once everyone is settled into their new positions, MOWCYA will work to process a higher number of recommendation letters than they currently are able to process.

We have continued to receive optimistic feedback and have seen that the Ethiopian government is very committed to adoption.  I hope this information is an encouragement to your family.  We will continue to update your family with any confirmed information we receive.


PLEASE continue to keep Ethiopia in your prayers.  God is working and we are excited by this positive news!!!