Lifesong for Orphans & Both Hands

 

Loving these organizations! We are going through these organizations to help fund raise for our adoption. Lifesong, has several fund raising options but the one we liked the best was the one where we partner with the Both Hands organization and help a widow in the process. The purposes of each organization are below.

Lifesong: Bringing joy and purpose to orphans. We seek to mobilize the church, His body, where each member can provide a unique and special service: some to adopt, some to care, some to give.

Both Hands is a non-profit organization with a two-fold mission. We serve widows in a very practical way in our communities, while raising funds to help willing families adopt.

I had struggled with the dilemma of what to do about fundraising. How can we do it in a way that allows people a tax credit and is legal. Funneling through the church through the foster care and orphans ministry line item while legal was still kinda sketchy and I didn't feel good about it. We wanted to apply to Both Hands but the wait time for approval is like 6-8 weeks, which would be fine but Eric jumped the gun and involved our deacon in on what we wanted to do and she readily identified a single woman who has a time-sensitive situation and we need to help her sooner rather than later. So I was able to get through the grueling application process for Lifesong one day while my mom watched the kids...it took me 7 hours to hash it all out. The night before Eric actually spoke with the Director for Both Hands and was told that we can do the fundraising outside of the organization and he would send us the project manual. But again...how to handle the money? So I emailed Lifesong to inquire about an expedited process. And was pleased and shocked to get a reply with in an hour on a Friday afternoon! The said they could try to put a rush on it and get it reviewed in 2-3 weeks, no promises but they did tell me to put a note on the application and request a quick review. So, YAY, problem potentially solved. So now we are waiting to hear back from Lifesong and hopefully it will all run in God's perfect timing and be a great success! All this to say, both organizations were wonderful to listen to both our requests and concerns and try to help us out. I pray we will officially get to work with them soon!