Dear
Families and Friends,
May
the Lord’s blessings be on each of you during this holiday
season. Yes, it’s here! Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the
New Year. A season that provides opportunity after opportunity
to remember that our Lord is always with us. He watches
over us, protects us, provides for us, and He blesses us
with friends and family to minister to and to love.
Most of you know why the staff at AIM loves this time of
year. For those of you who don’t, it’s because we get to
hear from so many people that we care about. You call, you
send cards and letters, you stop by for a visit, you volunteer
time, and you attend the holiday party. We get to see how
the children have grown and we get to learn about their
accomplishments or the latest cute thing they did. We enjoy
watching our families grow and we love feeling a part of
their lives…long after the adoption has been “finalized”.
It might seem like that word would indicate that our relationship
is…final. But, after being a part of such a personal part
of your lives, our love and concern for you will never be
over. Please continue to stay in touch…we have a commitment
to make that easy for you through our website, newsletters,
seminars, picnic, and holiday party. We try to make us “hard
to forget”. Call the office for information about the family
party to be held on December 4th. And be there…or we will
miss you.
As you know, we provide for many, many birth families during
this season. We provide food, clothing, holiday decorations,
gifts for the children, and a huge holiday party. The function
of the holiday party is to keep our birth families connected
to us. We have a commitment to them to be available to them
throughout their lives. Their experience with us is not
ended at the time of signing relinquishments. As with you,
we have been a part of their lives during a very personal
time. We can never forget them. Throughout everyone’s lives,
there comes a time when they need other people. We are often
called upon to help with the needs of a birth parent long
after an adoption plan. We are only able to help them through
your generosity. Our licensing requirements prohibit us
from providing any assistance through general funds. Because
of their needs and our licensing requirements, we must ask
you for support during this time of year so that we can
offer assistance to birth families trying to provide holiday
needs for the children that they are parenting…and in some
cases assistance for their own personal needs such as clothing,
personal hygiene items, and food. The donated funds are
placed in a separate account and used during the holiday
season and throughout the year as needs arise. We are enclosing
a pre-addressed envelope for the convenience of families
who wish to contribute financially. Please make checks out
to Alternatives In Motion – FIM.be held on December 4th.
And be there…or we will miss you.
The annual birth parent party is scheduled for Saturday,
December 11th. We will need volunteers to set up the party
on the 10th, to prepare and serve food, and to clean up
after. This is a great opportunity to show our appreciation
to young women who have touched our lives. We usually have
a “rob your neighbor” party AND give a gift bag full of
wrapped gifts to each birth mother as they leave. There
are usually 10-ish gifts of socks, brush/comb sets, candles,
etc individually wrapped inside each large gift bag…along
with a large holiday bear with the year embroidered on the
foot. The time to shop for, wrap, and store the gifts has
become soooooooo overwhelming that we have decided to change
the custom. One thousand small gifts is a lot to handle.
This year, we would like to give the traditional bear…with
a Wal-Mart gift card attached. For that reason, we are asking
that you send financial donations instead of the general
birth mother gifts we have asked for in the past. We have
decided that this will provide the young women with a means
to get something they really wanted for the holidays. Anyone
who is interesting in helping with the client party, please
call Anne at 281-209-9372. You will receive a blessing that
is unbelievable.
We have been blessed to be a part of the growing of several
families since the last newsletter. Please say a little
prayer of thanks as the Lord has blessed
| Mike and
Sheila with Max |
Yomi and
Christi with Bunmi |
| Steve and Peggy with
John |
Tory and Chay with
Sam |
| Brian and Perri with
Niah |
Ken and Heidi with
Miya |
| Jason and Angie with
Amelia |
Larry and Jennifer
with Isaiah |
| Gary and Kim with John
|
Chad and Rondee with
Avery |
| Todd and Shaee with
Grant |
Jason and Stacie with
Hailey |
| Adonis and Sheila with
Ashton |
Alen and Ginger with
Marisa |
| Albert and Marlene
with Evan |
Greg & Victoria
with Jarrett & Shane |
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After much deliberation, we have decided that we will not have the silent auction this year. The time involved in this project is overwhelming and we are trying to simplify the holiday activities in order to allow more time and effort into actually providing assistance to our birth mothers. We hope that this does not an inconvenience or disappointment to anyone. We will have the garage sale this year because we already have some things in storage. However, again…the time involved in this project takes away from our ability to concentrate on our efforts with our clients during this time of year.
The Lord has given us an opportunity to minister to the needs of many. The past few years, we have been able to provide for 100+ birth families each year through your generosity. Please continue to help us meet their needs. These young women have generously provided life for your child. The Lord used their love to answer your prayers. Many groups will be approaching you for donations this year, many worthy groups. Providing for these birth families, you have a chance to be blessed in a personal way that few other acts of giving will grant you. In our 21st year (yes, we reached our 20 year anniversary in July), we find that the need for contributions increases each year. We have been offered an avenue to receive needed funds throughout the year. We are a part of Volunteers of America who has a program that allows individuals to donate their used cars to AIM. VOA will handle the whole transaction including the selling of the vehicle…and disbursement of the funds back to AIM. Painless, easy, and benefits the giver because of the tax deductions/write-off…and benefits AIM. Check it out at http://www.carshelpingpeople.org/AIM.
In addition to our financial needs, we also need linens for our apartments. We need towels, washcloths, sheets, pillowcases, comforters, and pillows. This is an on-going need. If you are unable to provide any from this list, you may have a resource for AIM to be able to get things for a more reasonable price than what we usually pay. Also needed on an on-going basis is personal hygiene items and food to replenish Jason’s Pantry.
Oh, one more! Our foster parents receive $17.50 a day to care for our little ones. This is to cover diapers, formula, over-the-counter medicines, bottles, clothing, car seats, bedding, diaper ointment…get the picture? So, any donations to the “baby care” cause would be greatly appreciated. If you are “done”, you might consider donating good used baby items. Or, you could just pick up a package of sleepers or blankets next time you are at Wal-Mart. Our foster families will appreciate it. Remember, we also use newborn sleepers and blankets to pick up babies from the hospital. This is an ongoing need, also.
Don’t forget the Turkey Bucks or whatever your store offers. We provide Thanksgiving dinner makings and Christmas dinner makings for a large number of families.
From Anne: I always look forward to writing this “we need” holiday letter. The writing is challenging because I want to be able to touch you in a manner that will encourage you to share your blessings with our birth families…but, I also receive a blessing from going over the many things that we do during the holidays. As most of you know, I am currently staying at home to stabilize my teens. As with everyone, my blessings can also be challenging. I am blessed with seven teens right now. Several of my darlings have varying mental health issues such as ADD, ADHD, bi-polar, plain old depression, and mental retardation. The challenges and the blessings have been easier to balance in previous years…but this year has convinced me that the Lord wants me to be home for a while. Some days I interpret that to be “in a home” for a while. I truly am enjoying the time as June Cleaver…or is that Roseanne? In the midst of these mental health issues, I feel a need to say that I am blessed every day. One of my sons has an IQ of 60…he can sight read music, sing songs in German, French, and Italian like an angel, run cross country without breaking a real sweat, and work like a grown man. Medication allows my ADD and ADHD children to develop their fine art skills, make good grades, and develop relationships. My daughter who was born missing her right hand just qualified for Punt, Pass, and Kick in all three categories (all-around) for the third year in a row. At twelve, she plays basketball with 15, 16, and 17-year-old neighborhood boys…and whoops up on them, too. Anyway, I have no intention of disappearing…but, until I have a better handle on life I will have to satisfy my need to be involved with volunteering my energies. See ya at the parties!
Before we close, we want you to pray for Melissa and for Malinda. Both staff persons had emergency trips to the hospital that left them with health issues of undetermined extent. They are both out on medical leave. This has been a very difficult time for them and they need your love and prayers.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars…attach a note to your refrigerator. Remember that we are looking forward to seeing you…and it’s not nice to disappoint people during the holidays.
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