July 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
LATEST NEWS
Since my last fundraiser letter, we have been to Bulgaria!! We met M & V, and they are just
wonderful! Now we are in a whirlwind of
activity. There is more paperwork to do,
more fingerprints, more medicals, and way more fundraising. We also have lots of reorganizing to do in
our house to make room for everyone.
Right now, the earliest we would travel is September. Naturally, I would like to be ready by
then. More realistically speaking, we
may travel in October or even November.
I told Colton and Eli to shoot for Christmas and be excited for anything
sooner.
COUNTING THE COST
Phase 2 fundraising (leading up to the first trip) went well. We raised a little over $5600. I think that’s great, especially since we
only had about a month to do it! But we began
May with a hole about $7900 deep, and Phase 3 has already grown a little larger
than Phase 2. Just the official fees now
total $16,367.50. I don’t know how much
their medical exams to leave Bulgaria will be. This total also does not include the cost of
any additional gifts we may have to take, the cost of replacing the items
stolen from our suitcases on the first trip (and hopefully not on the second
trip), the cost of making their rooms ready (like buying beds and clothes and
other “getting started” expenses which we had saved but spent on the first trip),
or the possibility that my estimates might be low. With all things considered, I’m setting our
Phase 3 goal at $22,000. Please
understand if I change that daily. It
really is a guess – an educated guess, but a guess.
As for grants, I have 3 pending, and I will soon begin searching for
more. Keep in mind, applying is not the
same as getting. While we have received
3 so far (for a total of $5000), we have already been turned down for
another. Can you believe we are not the
only ones out there adopting?? Bad for
us; awesome for the millions of kids needing homes.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Recently, I asked you to help us out by participating in TEAM UP. Basically I asked you to form a team that
could send in $100. I sent out 143
letters and emails, and I posted on Facebook and my blog. I had 23 people respond – some for more than
$100. If you helped in that campaign, THANK YOU SO
VERY MUCH!!! If you missed
out on that round, here is another chance to help. Think about it. If the other 120 letters could result in a
$100 donation, that would be $12,000!
That is awesome! At the same
time, it is only around a little over half of what we need. Are you overwhelmed by these numbers? Sometimes I am. I’ll be honest with you. I’m very hopeful for lots of grants, but I
don’t know if we will be able to do half of our need that way. We’ll see.
With TEAM UP 2, I’m putting a slight spin on the original plan. (Check my blog for the entry titled TEAM UP
(April) if you want to refresh your memory about that one.) This isn’t fancy. I’m just going to give you some ideas for
ways you could send in $100. Maybe you
are fortunate enough to just write a check for $100. I don’t expect that of you, but maybe you
can. On the other hand, you might be
able to have a lot of fun with one of the following ideas and raise $100 to send. Or maybe you could give us one Saturday and
do a special project that would raise $100.
Now, you may look at the list and ask yourself, “Why can’t the DeMosses
just do all of these things themselves to raise the money?” Because there isn’t time. Tim has just spent June working a summer job;
I’m still trying to finish homeschooling the boys for this year, plan and
purchase for next year, do the adoption paperwork, and get the house ready; AND
we are still trying to do fundraisers along the way. Besides, every fundraiser we do targets the
same group of people. We need our
friends and family to reach beyond our circle and into your own circles.
WAYS TO SEND $100 (or more)
- Donate it.
- 10 friends at $10 each
- 20 friends at $5 each
- Sell 20 of my bracelets ($5 each)
- Sell 34 of our puzzle pieces at $3 each
- Parents’ Night Out – Offer to babysit 10 kids for $10 each (maybe a little more to provide pizza or snacks). If you have a small space, babysit 5 kids on two occasions. Maybe fewer kids at $15 each.
- Bunco Night (or any game) – For example, a $10 donation to play and bring a snack.
- Cookie Contest (or any cooking) – You could do this like a cookie swap but charge an entrance fee, judge the cookies, and have a small prize for the winner.
- Yard sale – We’ve done 30 of these. Maybe you could do one where you live and send in the proceeds (or just $100 of the proceeds). We average about $250 per day if we advertise that it is for an adoption and just take donations for items. Price if you like.
- Concession stand – Set up a concession stand at a yard sale or another function. Maybe instead of having your own yard sale, you could set up snacks and cold drinks to sell at a friend’s sale. You could bake your own items or just sell candy bars from Sam’s. We have found icy bottled water sells pretty well on those really hot days.
- Silent Auction – We had a very successful one of these at church before the first trip. Many items were donated; some purchased. Then baskets were put together around different themes like gardening, the beach, date night, coffee shop, etc. I have some ideas for a different kind later on. Contact me privately if you want more info. It’s pretty easy to get my own secrets out of me.
- Many of you go to churches other than mine. Maybe you could do something with your Sunday School class. Or maybe you have a child in the youth group that could perhaps use a short project this summer.
- Do you have a child in a service organization like scouts? Do they need a project?
- I’ve heard of fundraisers in offices where you can donate an amount to be able to dress casually on a given day. That never worked at school, but I thought I’d throw it out.
- Is there something you already do that you could turn into a fundraiser? I have a friend who rides her bike almost daily for her health. She offered to ride 200 miles for us this summer and get sponsors. She already has a donation for $50 and a sponsor for $1 per mile. That’s $250 for something she was already doing!!! Amazing!
DONATIONS
If anyone would like to read about our story or follow the progress of
this fundraiser, feel free to share my blog at thedemossfamily.blogspot.com. Look for the entry titled TEAM UP 2 for a copy
of this information, and look for the TEAM UP entry from April for suggestions
on how to build your team. Your donation can be made in one of three ways:
- If you have the opportunity, give it to us personally.
- Send a check to us at 3438 Leslie Ln., Murfreesboro, TN 37128. Just make it out to Libby DeMoss.
- Use the “Donate” button on the right side of my blog to pay with PayPal. While we prefer cash or check to avoid the PayPal fees, we know that the convenience of PayPal is real, and we don’t mind if you use it.
Feel free to
contact me with any questions or additional ideas you may have. Hopefully, by Thanksgiving I’ll be able to
post pictures so you can see these beautiful children you have helped.
With all our
thanks,
The
DeMoss Family (Tim, Libby, Colton, Eli, M, & V)
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