There are few things as satisfying as receiving immense positive feedback on an article. Last months article, “Hosting a Child: What it's REALLY like”, which chronicled our experiences with having an 8-year-old orphaned Russian boy live with our family for 2 weeks during July, brought in a landslide of emails from families who were considering adopting, families who felt challenged to host after reading the article, and just a whole lot of wonderful people who wrote to say how much they were enjoying living this adventure through our family.
I want to say a warm Thank You to the hundreds of people who wrote to me, and ask your forgiveness if I am unable to reply to each email. Dima is back in Russia, and does not know that there is a family working to adopt him. In a few months he will return to the United States as the 1st child of a wonderful couple and their loving extended family.
So many of you were touched by Dima’s story, and interested in finding out how you could become hosts as well. For that reason I have begun a special area of RainbowKids.com where people can find out about hosting programs in their areas. You can access our Hosting Area at: (Link will be available August 4th)
I have just gotten started with the area, so please bookmark it and return soon. If you know of a hosting program that I do not have listed, please email me at Martha@rainbowkids.com
Many of you were not in the position to help a child at this time in such a personal way, but asked if you could send a donation of money to RainbowKids.com . Unfortunately, RK is not yet a non-profit foundation, but we are working on it. Instead, if you would like to make a donation, I am going to ask that it be to a certain project very close to my heart. I know of a small agency that funds an orphanage. Their lease on their building ran out, and they have moved their kids to a building they are attempting to renovate. The building is larger and will allow them to help even more kids. I love this group and know that they are touching the lives of hundreds of “forgotten” children every year. I’m going to make an appeal that if you are moved to send $$ to a project, please consider doing so to this program for orphans in Ethiopia. Adoption Advocates International
Once again, thank you for the out pouring of love and the many personal stories that you shared. It is a joy to produce this magazine, and an even greater joy know how loving and generous our readers are.
Martha Osborne