Where we have been...

It has been a bit since we've posted here and I know everyone is anxiously awaiting updates. Unfortunately, I am not here to give you updates (yet) but I am here to let you know what we have been up to the past couple of weeks. 

As you know from our last post, we turned our focus completely to fundraising as we were still grieving D's death because, quite honestly, that's all we could bare to do. So, that is exactly what we have been doing... BIG FUNDRAISERS! 

I want to share our fundraisers with you all for two reasons: 

1. To thank everyone who has helped us 

2. To help anyone who is considering adoption get ideas on how to raise money

The first big fundraiser we did was our adoption garage sale. This is a very common fundraiser that you will see with adoptions and the success ranges. We started collecting items from family, friends, and complete strangers one month before our planned garage sale. We had our garage BUSTING with a lot of great items. I did my best to stay on top of everything so I wouldn't get too overwhelmed and I did this by pricing items as we got them. 

Our first garage sale was scheduled for the week after we found out of D's passing... we considered canceling but our family pushed us through and I am glad they did because that was our most successful day! 

We had SO much stuff but with the help of our family and friends, we were able to get everything set up pretty quickly. The first day brought us in $1,151!! 

Even after the sale we still had a LOT left over. We found out our neighborhood wide garage sale was going to be the following weekend so we planned to have another one then. Robert ran this one on a rainy Friday with the help of our parents and this brought in about $50. 

My in-laws then moved all that was left over to their house. They live on a main street a few towns over and had a sale on a Friday morning for us which brought in about $75. 

I was free the following day, Saturday, and asked my mother-in-law if we could try one more time to get rid of the rest. The two of us had a morning sale which helped us get rid of quite a bit. That last sale brought in $439. 

There was still a little left over which was sorted and either donated or brought to consignment shops.

In the end, we finished with a total of $1,708! 

We want to thank everyone who donated items for our sale!!! And of course, our family and friends who helped us price, sort, set-up and sell. We couldn't have done it without you!!!

Our next fundraiser was our Spaghetti Dinner in our community. This fundraiser took a lot of prep and HELP but it was a great night!!

We had to start preparing months in advance for this fundraiser in order for it to be successful. We started by finding a location for the event. Our initial plans were to cook all of the food ourselves and we wanted at least 100 attendees so we needed a pretty big space that had a kitchen. So, we reached out to a few local places including our old high-school but all were pretty costly and required additional charges of insurance for us to cook the food ourselves. 

I then thought about the local 4H field: Francis Field Youth Foundation. The place that was like my second home as a child all the way until I went off to college. The individuals who ran our 4H club and the friends I made became family to me. I thought, what better place to host our event? I reached out and they so graciously said 'YES' and did everything in their power to make our event a great success. They had one Saturday open before winter and we took it! 

The next step was getting it out to the community! I went around to all the local businesses with letters and flyers. I asked local businesses for raffle donations and to hang our dinner flyer. I also reached out to our local newspaper to see if they would share our event in the paper. They said 'yes' AND that they would share our story... prompting our event and advocating?! Yes, please. 

In the meantime, Robert and I, along with our families started putting together raffle baskets. We had some pretty awesome prizes, if I do say so myself. This included 2 handmade cutting boards from my Dad and a set of bean bag boxes made by my father-in-law. 

(Can I just say that our future babe has the best sets of Grandparents?!) 

The plan all along was to cook all of the food ourselves, however, my father-in-law reached out to a long time friend who owns an Italian restaurant, Bartolini's, to see if a deal could be worked out for the food. He generously said YES and was willing to provide the food at cost for our event. This was a very big weight off of all of our shoulders and, let's face it, the food was much better then anything I would've been able to cook. 

In the weeks leading up to the event, my Mom and Mother-in-Law did some shopping to get the essentials (plates, bowls, napkins, etc.) and I worked on posters/decor. We advertised (and advertised) the event on social media and sold pre-sale tickets to get a head count for food. We were nervous but by the time the day got here, we were more than prepared! 

Francis Field Youth Foundation

 Always with us

 The spaghetti dinner was an evening that I will NEVER forget. To see a space filled with old friends, new friends, strangers, and family all coming together for our child... it left me speechless. Every time I looked around the room, my eyes filled with tears because it was such a beautiful sight. We took as many pictures as we could (not all listed) so that we could put them in our photo album for our future kiddo.  

I know D was there in spirit and he got to see all the people who love him. And I can't wait for our next babe to meet all of you when they come home. I told Robert we are going to have to have another dinner so everyone can meet our little one! 

Of course, we could have NEVER had such a wonderful event, if it wasn't for those who volunteered to help us out!! A super special thank you to our family and friends who worked super hard to make this event flawless and allowed us to spend time greeting and visiting with our supporters. 

Our amazing family!

And, friends who've become family!

We were nervous about pulling this event off but it was our biggest success yet!!! We are super thankful we took the chance! (Seems to be the theme of this adoption story...) 

The dinner brought us in a total of $3,820!!! WOW!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

The cost is the number one reason that people resist to adopt. It was definitely (and some days still is) our biggest fear with this whole process. And, honestly, the cost is HUGE and terrifying. And, it seems completely impossible. Until, one day, it doesn't. Because of people like you! I am moved to tears daily with this process and I so wish I could find the right words to say how thankful we are for those who have brought us this far. I am not sure I ever will but each and every person who has helped us in one way or another is forever engraved in my heart. Our child will know your name and kindness. We could never do this without our village. 

We still have quite a ways to go, but today, it all seems so possible. 

A very special thank you to: 

Francis Field Youth Foundation 

Bartolini's Italian Restaurant 

Whitmore Ace Hardware 

AJ's Hot Dogs 

Lumes Restaurant 

The Hickey Family 

The McKay Family 

The Kaczanowski Family 

The Stachulak Family 

The Kachiroubas Family 

The O'Connor Family 

The New Lenox Patriot