12 Days of Giving-Day One

Bethany at Life with Bubba, Chicky and Nika is hosting the "12 Days of Giving" on her blog and I think it's such a great idea and a wonderful way to help encourage and inspire others to give back. Click on the button above to learn more about it! At first I thought this may be too hard to try and give each day for 12 days but it can be something small or something large-either way you are giving.

So for the next 12 days I will share with you how I gave that day (not to brag but to encourage or inspire you to give) and feel free link up and join in on the "12 Days of Giving" if you have a blog!

So tonight I decided to donate to Reese's Rainbow. For those of you that don't know, this is an organization that helps families raise grant donations to adopt children with Down syndrome in other countries. These children are in orphanages and by the age of 4 most will be put in mental institutions to basically die. This breaks my heart that someone would feel this way towards my sweet Bennett, all because he has an extra chromosome and there are many people in the world that see that as worthless. Thankfully there are hundreds of families waiting to adopt a child with Down syndrome. Yes, there are also wonderful people in this world that want to care for a child with special needs and want to give them a chance at life. But it's not cheap to adopt so tonight I thought I'd chip in a little to help a child come a little closer to being with his "forever family"

This was taken from the Reece's Rainbow site:

Our Sponsorship Program provides a unique opportunity for anonymous donors to contribute to the adoption journey of our families. These children are viewed as outcasts with no ability to learn or be functional members of society. They languish in mental institutions, hidden away from the world in shame. Even if you are not able to adopt a child at this time, you truly can change the course of a child's life by helping adoptive families afford the costs of international adoption.

This is the little guy I donated money towards:

Artem

Boy, Born September 10, 2008

Artem is a tart of a boy, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was born with an atrial septal defect, and will need to be followed by a cardiologist once home. But he is so young and will greatly benefit from early intervention therapy with his new family!

Arrived to the orphanage at the age of 2 months and 18 days

Weight at birth 2900 grams

Weight at 2 months - 4 kg

Isn't he just a cutie?! I think his name is cool too! What a sweet little boy. I hope by next Christmas he is on his way to being with his "forever family"!