It's come to this...

Lera, the beautiful little girl with Down Syndrome in St. Petersburg, Russia, whose picture has been in my sidebar for months, is within days/weeks of being transferred to an institution. Once there she can no longer be adopted. All that it would take to keep her out of there, initially, is an application with her agency and a commitment to her. The baby house would be able to keep her there until the family (or a single mom!) came to adopt her (yes, that is part of the commitment).

Andrea Roberts, the founder of Reece's Rainbow, has graciously offered a $1000 grant for her adoption. If you are the family that can keep this beautiful little girl from a life behind the bars of a Russian mental institution where she does NOT belong, please contact Andrea at bamaroberts@comcast.net.

I know I have written about mental institutions before, but if you missed it you could watch the video I have shared on my sidebar. The basic idea is this: Lera is currently living in a baby house where she is treated like all the other children in the orphanage. They have three meals a day of barely passable quality, they play outside in a crummy little play area, they have a few toys, they nap daily, they probably go to the bathroom in a little plastic pot after each meal, scrubbed down with cold water 'baths' and they don't get lots of hugs.

Doesn't sound nice, does it? I may be slightly wrong about her exact experience, but that is what I saw at Alex's and Vera's orphanages.

It's a garden spot compared to what's coming for her. One day soon she will be plucked out of her little place in the world with no warning and no transition. She will go to sleep surrounded by the kidlets who have been her friends for years and awaken to a world filled with emaciated adults prone to strange outbursts, no playground, just a bed, meals occasionally, baths less occasionally, and caretakers who were overwhelmed with the endless needs of the variously handicapped residents years ago.

Alternatively, she could come to YOUR home. Do you see how much you have to offer her? Think of your home, with a soft bed for her, a warm, nutritious meal (yes, even a kid's meal with chicken nuggets and fries is better than what she had and what she's going to get), a warm bubble bath, medical care from your friendly pediatrician, a toilet that flushes (!), toys of her own, maybe even a baby doll or an stuffed animal. Best of all? YOU! A parent to hug her, bandage her scraped knee, fight for her educational rights in school, tuck her in each night when she's scared, play music so she can dance, give her a new name to call her own, give her a future with a family to catch her when she falls.

Believe it or not, the life you save will be your own.

tanner scheppers

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Announcing our 4th Annual CHRISTMAS ANGEL TREE The Reece's Rainbow Down Syndrome Adoption Ministryis a 501c3 charity which promotes and facilitates the international adoption of children with Down syndrome.   In only 3 years, more than 225 children with Down syndrome and other special needs have found their "forever families" at the end of Reece's Rainbow!   Your gifts have made that possible!  The Angel Treeis our most important fundraiser each year, and this year we have (166) orphans with Down syndrome around the world who are in need of grant donations (and adoption!) From November 1-December 31, 2009, each of our orphaned children is praying that YOU will be their "Christmas Warrior".   Please help them raise money in their adoption grant fund so a *forever family* can  afford to rescue them from life in a mental institution.    There are families lined up and waiting to save these children,but they need financial help to do it!    With an average cost of $25,000 to adopt internationally, every penny helps.  Even the smallest donations really add up, and can truly change the course of a child's life! *** With your donation of $35 (or more), you will receive a beautiful, porcelain Christmas ornament with your sponsored child's photo on the back. *** This is a special way to share Christmas with an orphaned child, and to make it possible for them to  spend NEXT Christmas at home with their new family! Regardless of your faith, ethnic background, or nationality, your gift is life-saving in nature.  Our goal is to raise $1000 or more for each of our waiting children.  You can help by donating and sharing this Angel Tree with others!    This is a very meaningful and personal gift idea for the holidays too! Your additional gifts to our Voice of Hope fund help keep our ministry operational. Give the gift of a family this Christmas! International sponsors welcome!  *** Be SURE to watch and share our new video (click link to the right)....powerful, moving, compelling, and definitely worth watching!  It really captures the essence and urgency of our work! *** We also ask you to please just hit *forward* to everyone in your address book, and share this official Angel Tree announcement with everyone you know! Visit our home page at www.reecesrainbow.org throughout the year for more ways to bring our children into loving families.   All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.  EIN 20-5466141

This email was sent to williamtheoutlaw@googlemail.com by Andrea Roberts, Executive Director (bamaroberts@comcast.net). To ensure that you continue receiving our emails, please add us to your address book or safe list. Click here to remove yourself from this mailing list. Reece's Rainbow Down Syndrome Adoption Ministry | PO Box 4024 | Gaithersburg | MD | 20885

  

Beautiful Reece's Rainbow photo montage

Unless it has changed again, a certain little Colombian girl and her daddy are featured at 10:07, although of course I would love for folks to watch the whole 12+ minutes of beautiful faces. Enjoy! OK, I can see I am going to have to figure out why this is too big for the blog. Here's a link, instead.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Celebrating 5 Years of My Vera

It's here! It's here! It's here!

Our five year adoption anniversary with Veronika Hope Spicer!

We always celebrate the day that our adoption is made official. In Russia, that occurs the day you go to court. Five years ago we stood in front of a judge and promised to love and adore our little girl forever. Easy!! She still makes my heart sing.

Tomorrow I should have some time to reminisce about our time with Vera in Russia, but as for now I have to get busy putting the finishing touches on our family celebration tonight!

I included a picture of most of the clan dressed up to go to a wedding, with Vera so sweet and beautiful in her pink. The rest of the pics, however, are more like the Vera we all know and love. In other words, a complete mess!

New picture of Lera!

I was looking at the page on Reece's Rainbow that has Lera's profile on it and my heart gave an excited leap when I didn't see Lera's picture (posted in my sidebar) anymore. I went to check the New Commitments page and didn't see her there. I finally looked at the names and realized this was Lera! They have found a new picture of her. She's still a cutie patootie, and she still needs a family.

Also, be on the lookout for one of my fave fundraisers of the year--the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree. For two months you can see actual pictures of all the precious little ones who need families. One helpful way to encourage families to come forward, however, is to have little ones with grants! If you give at least $35 you get an ornament with your chosen child's picture on it. Last year, I receive two as presents and I was thrilled!!!

A Wonderful Newlywed Blog

The blog isn't what you'd expect, with lots of sweet stories about the amazing things one of them did for the other, but rather a sweet story about an amazing thing they did to learn about others, and out of that experience to help others. I've been reading the blog of this young woman's mom because she adopted a beautiful little girl from China and I love how she writes about her little girl. Clearly, the mom's heart for giving has been lovingly transmitted to her oldest daughter in a beautiful way.

In a nutshell, these newlyweds, Taylor and Frankie, have spent a couple of different weeks living off of the food paks a local organization gives to people in need in San Antonio (where one out of every four children is hungry). They found out what constituted a whole pak, then bought just that food and ate only that food. Even when it got monotonous. Even when they could look out their window at work and see some amazing San Antonio Mexican food at the restaurant next door. Even though they could afford to eat differently, they chose to stay within their food pak. After they were done, they had saved enough money to buy and donate 10 food paks for the organization that gives them out.

It doesn't take long to read it, but I think it will bless you and give you some true food for thought. I know it did for me!