Both Hands: Adoption Fundraiser

I mentioned in my last Adoption Waiting Questionnaire, that we are working on two different fundraisers at the moment. We are crazy excited for these awesome opportunities and to share the details!

Back in December, Andy and I were accepted with the Both Hands Foundation to conduct a fundraising project for our adoption! We LOVE this organization, so let me give you a little background on them, the fundraiser, and our progress:

The Organization:

First, the organization we’re working with is again called the Both Hands Foundation. Their tagline being, “One for the Widow, One for the Orphan.” It is based on the scripture, James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Since Both Hands started, they have helped raise over $3.5 million dollars to aid adopting families. Their Mission Statement is:

Both Hands mission is “to serve widows, orphans, and adoptive families.” Our purpose is to help people raise funds for orphans while serving widows through home improvement projects. 

There are 160+ million orphans in the world and while we can’t change the world, we can make a world of difference to some. One of the main reasons people don’t proceed with the adoption process is because of the huge price tag, often times between $15,000-$30,000. Our vision is that there will be Both Hands projects happening every weekend, in every state in the US.

Our Experience:

We actually first heard of this fundraiser through a friend who had adopted. Then, we were randomly invited to participate in a project by serving a widow and sending support letters to raise money for an orphanage in Honduras. The widow we served was a young mother of four children who had just the previous year lost her husband to a five-year battle with cancer. She needed a tremendous amount of help organizing everything from her yard and basement to the kid’s rooms. A large team gathered around her and put a HUGE dent in the work she was feeling overwhelmed to accomplish on her own! I encourage you to read a lot more detailed information about the Both Hands Foundation – their founder, history, project, etc. – on the website, but I’d love to share more specifically about what this looks like for us!

How Does the Fundraiser Work? 

The easiest way to describe it is by sharing a portion of the letter we sent to our prospective team members:

[We, the adoptive family,] find a widow in need and assemble a team of our friends to complete a Both Hands Project. Then, the team (including us) sends out letters to family and friends asking people to sponsor us for the day, as we work on this widow’s house.  All the funds raised go toward our adoption.  It’s just like asking someone to sponsor you for a 5K Run for the Cure.

The beauty is that all of the supplies needed to work on the widow’s home are donated and therefore 100% of the money donated goes directly to fund our adoption-related costs (and is tax-deductible)!

To Sum Up:

1. We develop a team of family and friends around us to serve!
2. We get together for a fun kick-off meeting & envelope stuffing party…
3. EVERYONE sends out letters to their family and friends asking for support as they work on a widow’s home.
4. Prayerfully, people donate :) and then,
5. We gather as a group and work on the widow’s home for the day and everyone’s effort serves both the orphan and the widow!

Our Progress & How Can YOU Help?

Right now, we are in the process of recruiting our team and hosting our kick-off meeting! However, you might be curious as to how you can help, so I don’t want to share all that and then just leave you hanging :) There are a few ways you can get involved.

1. PRAY – for us, our team, the widow and our baby!
2. PARTICIPATE – If you would like to send out letters on our behalf to your family and friends in effort to support “a family you know who is adopting” we would be thrilled for as many letters to go out as possible. We all know a tremendous number of people and some of them are looking for ways to give and would be grateful for the opportunity!
3. GIVE – The financial cost of adoption is high. We are honored to pay whatever we need to in order to bring our baby home, but we also know that there are others who are not called to adopt, but would love to support those who are…every little bit helps and we are beyond grateful for your generosity.

If you would like to give, please visit our tax-deductible donation site!

We are looking forward to participating in this project as it unfolds. We are so thankful for the loving support of family and friends (and those who have expressed interest whom we don’t even know) and we can’t wait to serve alongside one another! We’ve had one wonderful personal experience, and I’ll leave you with this video sharing another family’s story…

Thank you for reading, your interest, and consideration in partnering with us!

~ Becca

For a list of parties I link-up with, click here!

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Becca V

Creator at Milk & Honey Living

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