Development Update
It’s Our Anniversary!
For two decades, AAI has been bringing families together through adoption. In the past twenty years our work has continued to evolve, expand, and increase, but our mission has remained consistent: promoting domestic and international adoption for the glory of God.
The continued work of our dedicated Board of Directors and staff in this mission is fostered by your financial support. Your partnership in this organization is an important part of our success in bringing together forever families. Every life-affirming gift is valuable to us as support for these components of our mission.
Orphanage Support:
Long ago, AAI made a commitment to support international orphanages in countries where children are waiting for adoption. Funds are needed to provide food and clothing for the children, and to hire more nannies to care for them. AAI also sponsors economically poor households to help reduce poverty and make education possible for the children. Our commitment for 2010 is to raise $125,000 to support the children in Ethiopia, Nepal, Russia, and China.
Reaching Out to Birth Mothers:
Fewer than 2 percent of women who experience an unplanned pregnancy choose adoption for their children. The majority of women will choose to abort or choose to single parent. AAI has a long history of successfully presenting adoption as a loving option for birth mothers and their children when given the chance. However, more tools are needed to build the case for adoption. AAI is seeking professional help to re-develop the planadoption.com website. Changes are needed to draw potential birth mothers to the web site and to give them the information they need to make choices for their babies and for themselves. The most powerful means of attracting new birth moms is outreach to our referral sources. Our staff makes it a priority to visit hospital social workers, pregnancy resource centers, high school counselors, health clinics, WIC offices, and OB/GYN offices to educate their staff on how to present the idea of adoption. We build relationships with our referring agents and offer on-site training. In order to continue this practice, we need to update many of our printed materials. To achieve these goals we need to support our operational budget by raising $125,000.
Here are some ways you can participate in celebrating and supporting adoption
20th Anniversary Letter:
Our first opportunity is to honor an adopted child with a gift to Adoption Associates, Inc. A special invitation letter has been mailed to past clients and donors. We are planning a special printed 20th Anniversary edition of our newsletter in November, which is National Adoption Awareness Month. The letter will include the names of the children who have been honored with a donation in the following levels:
| Diamond | $5,000 and above | ||
| Platinum | $2,500 to $4,999 | ||
| Gold | $1,000 to $2,499 | ||
| Silver | $500 to $999 | ||
| Bronze | $250 to $499 | ||
| Pewter | $25 to $249 |
If an adopted child has blessed your life, please consider honoring that child in this way. Contact Judie Zylman, Development Associate, at jzylman@adoptionassociates.net.
Harvest of Hope 2010:
All three Quality Car Wash locations in Holland are hosting a great Saturday family event and fundraiser on September 18, 2010. There will be cotton candy, pumpkin painting, face painting, a fire truck, bounce houses and much more. WJQ will broadcast live from the South Washington location. Adoption Associates will benefit from the sale of car washes the entire day! More details will follow on our website and facebook page.
2010 Change-A-Life, Change-the-World Gala:
We are looking forward to welcoming our guests to our Gala to be held on Thursday, October 14, 2010. We have selected the Goei Center at 818 Butterworth, Grand Rapids, Michigan, as our venue. Formerly the Kindel Furniture Factory, the Goei Center is a contemporary, loft-style venue with urban elegance and artistic class. Guests will be welcomed with champagne and hors d’oeuvres and then will have the opportunity to bid on exciting items through our Ten-Bid Auction. Dinner, prepared by some of the area’s best chefs, will be served “grazing style.” Auction winners will be announced, and the evening will conclude with a showing of our newest video.
Tickets for the evening will be $75.00 each and the bidding range will be $15.00 - $200.00. For those who cannot attend or who would like to further support this event, sponsorships from $150 to $5,000 are available. Development Associate Judie Zylman (616.667.0677) would love to talk with you further about the great evening we have planned.
Baby Bottle Program:
During the past two years children in schools in Hudsonville, Jenison, Holland, and Zeeland have participated in our Baby Bottle Program. Last year four classrooms of first and second graders collected more than $2,500 to support children living in orphanages in Ethiopia. After a presentation about Ethiopia and the children living in orphanages there, the children are given plastic baby bottles to take home and are encouraged to share the information with their families and do extra chores around the house to earn money to fill the bottles. The kids are given a month before they are asked to return the bottles. The class can share in the excitement of the “change” they can bring to the lives of children around the world, and teachers can use this opportunity to include learning sessions on social sciences and math. We are developing lesson plans to help teachers incorporate the project into their learning systems. Teachers interested in encouraging their students to learn about and help children in different cultures are asked to contact Judie Zylman at jzylman@adoptionassociates.net.
Comfort Research Donates a “Foof Chair”
Adoption Associates was made aware recently of some of the needs of 5-year-old Gabriel DeYoung. Gabriel was diagnosed with a primary immune disorder shortly after his adoption 5 years ago. Due to a recent breaking of his femur, Gabe is in a full cast from his waist and down his entire right side. Because it’s very uncomfortable to sit for extended periods of time, Gabe’s mom was wishing for a comfy bean bag chair. The Development Department at AAI heard about this and contacted Comfort Research, makers of the “Foof Chair”. Comfort Research graciously donated a large chair for Gabe to make resting, recovering (and playing Wii!) more comfortable! Thank you Comfort Research!
A Birthday Party for Javon
as told by his mother
“A year after bringing home our little boy, we still marvel at what a blessing he is. We brought him home May 22, 2009, when he was 19 days old, just 10 days after learning his birth mother had selected us as his parents. He was adopted domestically through Adoption Associates Inc.’s African-American adoption program.
“That first day, and now, he brings us pure joy. Every day, we celebrate Javon. For his first birthday, we really planned to celebrate. So many of our friends and family went through this adoption journey step-by-step with us and they were excited about celebrating our first amazing year with Javon.
“As the guest list grew, so did my anxiety – not about the amount of cake we’d need or what the menu would be (OK, there was a little stress about that), but mostly about the presents. What in the world would Javon do with all those toys? We hadn’t even opened all the gifts he’d gotten for Christmas yet.
“So we started thinking about how blessed we were and how his birthday party was really about sharing time with the friends and family who have supported us and loved Javon so much. I considered asking for no presents, but I knew everyone would totally ignore such a request. Still, we couldn’t shake this feeling that we already had been given an amazing gift and we should give something back.
“Then it came to us, and it seemed so obvious. We decided instead to use this celebration as a fundraiser for Adoption Associates. As we said in our note tucked in with the birthday invitations: “On this very special occasion our family would like to do something special. And, to us, nothing is more special than making forever families.”
We ended up raising $1,140. And, it was fun.”
Javon’s parents celebrated very unselfishly and did a wonderful thing that helps us to continue to build forever families. Each donor received a special thank you receipt and the family found out the total that was raised.
