Affording Adoption
Annual Yard Sale to Benefit Adoptive Families
Just like they have for the past thirteen years, Terry and Val are once again beginning preparations for the annual We Love T.J. and Skylee Sale that takes place the first Thursday, Friday, and Saturday after the Fourth of July near Allendale, Michigan. This massive undertaking that Val jokes is “an event, rather than a sale,” fills an entire 40 by 60 foot barn, with overflow spilling into five additional tents.
A Sale for Children
“The main goal of the sale is to help children,” says Val. And the sale fulfills this purpose in two very different, but important, ways. Half of the proceeds from this sale are given to the T.J. and Skylee Starr Sikma Memorial Fund, which is established under the Allendale Community Foundation. This fund is used to improve the playground at the Allendale Community Park. The other half of the sale proceeds go to help fund international adoption costs for a selected family. With the sale consistently grossing $8,000 or more over the course of three days, this is a substantial contribution.
Those with a heart for children, and those willing to contribute to a worthy cause, donate the goods sold during this sale year-round. “So much has been donated that within the last two years, we have purchased a semi trailer that sits on site to collect donations,” says Val.
The First Annual Sale
Val has seen this sale through many good times, and many bad. When the sale first began, Terry and Val were the parents of a little boy, T.J., who suffered from brain cancer. Although he was sick, T.J. still wanted to go to the playground. However, the playground wasn’t equipped to handle his special needs, and it would take a private donation to change that. Thus, the idea for the sale was born, and when it was first held in 1993, 100% of the profits were contributed to the playground.
T.J., Skylee, and Adoption
T.J. lost his battle with cancer at age four, and seven years later, his sister, Skylee, fought the same disease. She, too, lost her battle at age four in February of 2000.
Eventually, Terry and Val thought about having more biological children, but because of their ages and the illnesses they’d experienced with T.J. and Skylee, it seemed too scary. And “That’s how God opened our eyes to adoption,” says Val.
Gabe and MacKenzie
Terry and Val began to search the Internet for the right adoption agency, and they chose to adopt through AAI based on the recommendation of a friend. Their children, Gabriel Zane and MacKenzie Hope, arrived home from Guatemala in late December of 2001, with their adoptions funded in part through the sale held in T.J. and Skylee’s memory.
Financing Their Adoption
When Terry and Val decided to adopt, they weren’t sure how they would meet the cost. Then, “Someone mentioned that, if we were going to adopt, why not use the money from the annual sale for our own adoption as long as everybody knew about it?” says Val. Terry and Val discussed the idea, and in 2000, they decided to split the profits from the sale between the playground and their own adoption. This was so successful that they did the same in 2001. Since 2002, Terry and Val have selected a family in the midst of the international adoption process to receive half of the proceeds from the sale. The profits the families receive are then used to finance their child’s adoption.
The Fourteenth Annual Sale
To this day, Terry and Val have helped four families, including their own, to bring seven orphaned children home from Guatemala, South Korea, Haiti, and Ethiopia through the sale. Now in its fourteenth year, the We Love T.J. and Skylee Sale continues to flourish, something that Val and Terry attribute to God. “The path we have taken with our sale after losing our two children has been blessed by God through the kindness and love from our family, friends, neighbors, and our local community,” says Val. “That has made it the success that it is today.”
Work with Rewards
Many adoptive families find yard sales to be effective in raising funds for their children’s adoptions. However, organizing such a sale can be a monumental undertaking.
“Don’t let us lead you astray,” says Val. “This [sale] is more work than you can ever know. BUT, the rewards far outweigh the hard work that goes into a sale of this magnitude.”
To Be Selected…
If you would like to be considered for the We Love T.J. and Skylee Sale’s sponsored family, please send a letter describing your adoption journey and why you should be chosen to Val at P.O. Box 297, Allendale, MI 49401-0297. The family to benefit from this year’s sale has not yet been selected.
For More Information
For more adoption funding resources, please visit our Adoption Funding page.
