With the holidays now over I
finally have some time to give an update on our adoption fundraising. On
November 22 we hosted a spaghetti dinner and live auction, during which we also
ran a craft sale and bake sale. Everything was donated by our amazing friends
and family, and really all we had to do was organize the items being auctioned.
A sweet friend from our
congregation, Loretta, was the driving force behind the event. Her daughter
recently adopted and, therefore, adoption is very close to her heart. She has
been one of our biggest supporters, and without her encouragement we never
could have pulled off the dinner. Loretta sold tickets, donated items for the
auction, found a banquet hall where we could hold the event, paid for half of
the rental fee, donated the food for the dinner, and cooked up a huge batch of
homemade spaghetti noodles and sauce! This woman is amazing, y’all. We are so
thankful for her and her efforts to help us bring our little one home.
After four weeks of preparation,
the big day arrived. We had about 12 volunteers who helped set up and clean up,
served the food, kept track of auction sales, and manned the craft and bake
sale tables. Everything was set up beautifully in the colors of the Ethiopian
flag. The food was delicious, and we really enjoyed the fellowship. We had
about 50 people in attendance.
We received so many donations for
the craft sale that it filled two tables to overflowing. We had originally
hoped to get a table at a Christmas craft fair, but all the tables were booked
so we just combined the craft sale with the spaghetti dinner. Hopefully we will
be able to get into a craft fair in the spring. Laura and Kathryn donated
everything for the bake sale. They made gorgeous cupcakes, chocolate covered
pretzels, and snickers cookies that I was drooling over. We really appreciate
their time and effort!
We began to serve around 1:00 and
started the auction at about 1:45. Joshua had a blast playing auctioneer. He
spent the week beforehand watching youtube videos and practicing his auctioneer
chant. He got to be pretty impressive. Everyone was surprised to learn that
this was his first time conducting an auction. We had many generous donations
for the auction, including a painting by one of the members of our
congregation, a set of golf clubs, handmade jewelry, crocheted blankets, movie
baskets, and gift certificates from our chiropractor for $100 worth of adjustments
and a one hour massage.
We had the most fun at the end of
the event. At the beginning of the auction, Joshua offered two “Invasion
Insurance” policies. He didn’t tell what they were for, just that they were
very valuable and that you may very much regret not purchasing a policy. He
started the bid at $0.25 and I think we made $2.50 off of the first policy and
$2 off the second. At the very end of the auction, Joshua revealed what the
insurance protected against: King Asa, the goldfish king, and his two goldfish
minions. (“Asa” means fish in Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language).
I borrowed this idea from an
auction fundraising blog that mentioned playing this game with a goat. We
thought goldfish would be more acceptable with this crowd :) Here’s how it
worked. Everyone had the opportunity to bid for the chance to “gift” King Asa
to someone else in the room, unless that person had purchased the “Invasion
Insurance”. If the person who was “gifted” with the goldfishes did not want to
take them home, they had to pay a fee to put the fishies back up for auction.
Everyone had a great time with this game, and it was hilarious to see the looks
on people’s faces when they were “gifted” with the bowl of fishes. It went on for
several rounds, with people having to pay increasing fees with each round to
get rid of King Asa, until Joshua randomly decided that the next person to
receive the gift would have to take them home (so that we didn’t end up taking
them home ourselves!). Dennis was the lucky new owner of three pet goldfishes.
After the auction, he immediately turned around and gave them to his
grandchildren. His daughter and son-in-law were overjoyed ;)
We were incredibly blessed by the
generosity of our friends that night. Altogether, we made $877 from the
spaghetti dinner/auction/craft/bake sale. The following Sunday we received
donations totaling around $600 from people who were unable to make it to the
dinner but who wanted to help us out with our adoption anyway. Once again, God
provided above and beyond our expectations. With the money raised that weekend
and the $128 raised the following weekend off of another bake sale, we were
able to make an overdue payment to our agency. Now we only have one more
payment of $2,666 to make and we will be put on the waiting list to be matched
with our child!
Thank you all for your thoughts,
prayers, support, and encouragement. It means the world to us and we are
humbled by your generosity. May God bless you as you continue to serve Him!
