Both Hands Project

I have had the honor and privilege to meet Mrs. Margaret and I was able to spend some time with her and hear her story.  Margaret and her husband Dan, had 2 biological and 8 adoptive children.  They were foster parents to many children over their 43 years of marriage.  They lived most of their years together in Maryland where in addition to caring for their children they restored old homes.  They relocated to Florida in 2010 with 3 children still living at home: Jason (who is quadrapalegic) and Dannon, who are both 12, and Deitrich, 9 years old. Because of a variety of learning struggles, both Dannon and Dietrich are homeschooled by Margaret.

Dan passed away very suddenly in June 2011.  It was just before his birthday, and there were only 26 days from his diagnosis of lung cancer to his passing.  Today, Margaret lives and cares for the 3 boys in the home she and Dan bought with plans to restore.

Our work day is scheduled for Saturday February 23.  We will be there all day and hope to accomplish several things that have been on Margaret's to do list.  Some of these tasks are simple; painting, staining, cleaning siding, weeding, putting together 10 days worth of freezer meals.  Some require more skill such as, finishing the trim work, repairing the fence, laying her kitchen vinyl flooring.  But Margaret has some ideas in her heart that her and Dan were planning on tackling.  Such as new white kitchen cabinets for their 8x10 kitchen, a door way to connect her room to the boys room, and new french doors.

Please consider sponsoring our volunteer team for $10 (or more if you like!)  Just go to this link here to donate. ALL donations are completely tax deductible.  I did receive some news from the grant agency regarding a misunderstanding on how the grant works.  IT IS NOT A MATCHING GRANT.  It is us asking you to consider sponsoring us and our team to work for the day at Mrs. Margaret's home.  To help a widow.  HOWEVER, this grant does give the vehicle for you to give a tax deductible gift, OR, allows businesses to donate materials that we can use for her home.  Such as, kitchen cabinets, the french doors, paint, lumbar to fix the fence, ect.

If you can help in any way, large or small, or have connections to businesses that are willing to donate. Please contact me ASAP.  We are still in need of people to work that day at Mrs. Margaret's home.  Please contact me to find out how you can live out James 1:27.  It will only cost you your time.

from left: Dietrich(9), Margaret, Jason(12), Dannon (12)

Answer to Prayer

I am so very pleased to announce that we have been APPROVED for not one but TWO of the 3 grants we applied for!

The first one is for a grant worth $1000 from CalledtoAdopt.org!  If you are not familiar with this organization, I urge you to visit their site.  A friend of mine I have met in my adoptive mommy circle, didn't just talk about change, but went out and created some. Jeny Pighetti and her husband adopted their beautiful Avery almost 2 years ago.  They worked hard fundraising their entire amount.  When their adoption was finalized they decided to start a non-profit group to give grants to other couples who are pursuing the Call to Adopt.  Her family is passionate about educating others that if you feel you are called to adopt, then finances shouldn't be a factor.  You can donate monthly to them on their site and quarterly they choose families to recieve the grant! And lucky us, we were chosen.  We are so very grateful for this assistance.

So between this grant and monies raised from the Kindle Fire Raffle we will be able to pay in full our next fee that will incur from the agency when we are chosen by a birthmom.  Which we are hoping to be chosen real soon!

The 2nd grant we were approved for is the Life Song Both Hands grant.  This one is particularly exciting because it creates an opportunity to really live out the scripture.  James 1:27 says, "And true religion is this, that we take care of the widow and the orphan."  The premise is this:  We create 2 teams.  A fundraising team and a work day team.  The fundraising team commits to sending out approximately 500 letters requesting donations.  Here's the catch! All tax deductible funds raised through these letters goes to a work day for a WIDOWS HOUSE.  The work day team goes to the widow's house and does a full day of work such as painting, landscaping, de-cluttering, ect.  Then LifeSong Both Hands will match whatever amount we raise for the widow's house, and apply it to our adoption.  ***EDIT***  The fundraising letter will ask people to sponsor our volunteer team to work on the widow's home.  I found out that this is not a matching grant.  We will ask businesses to donate items to complete the work day list.  All sponsorship monies will be applied to our adoption. 
While our adoption will definitely benefit from this, I am very happy to move beyond that and use all this energy to help someone else.  I know I'm sick of my own story! LOL so I welcome the opportunity to help someone else out!

If you are interested in being a part of either the fundraising team, or the work day team, or you know of widow in Osceola or Orange County that could benefit from a work day please contact me ASAP.  

The fundraising team will only need to gather addresses from ANY contacts you have and come to an envelope stuffing party at our home.  If you do not live near us, but would like to be on this team anyways, we will provide you with letters, pictures and stamps to do the mailing from your area.  We are hoping for 6 families to commit to this team.  And remember, yes, you are asking for money, but it's to help out a widow AND our adoption.

The work day team will commit to doing their best to finish the to-do list for the widow's home.  It will be an ALL DAY work day which will take place on a Saturday.  We are hoping to have the work day scheduled for the end of February or the first part of March.  Once we interview and get approval from a widow we will be able to schedule the final date.  We are hoping to have 10-12 workers that day and lunch will be provided.

If you are interested in carrying out James 1:27 in the most practical way ever, please contact me via Facebook, Twitter, or text within the next 7 days so we can finalize our plans and begin to move forward.

Thank you so very much for following our story, and for contributing in all the ways you do!