ONE Thing I Would Want to Share...

October was Down Syndrome Awareness Month. I usually participate in trying to blog each day of the month in October but this year.... I did not blog as I have in previous years (you can click on any of these years 2008, 2009, 2010 to find previous Down syndrome Awareness posts if you'd like).


However, if there was ONE thing I would want to share ...to bring awareness to, is that if any one of us were to hop in a plane...fly a little over half a day away.... we would step foot backwards in time in terms of acceptance for a child like my son. My son Reid would have no place in many eastern European countries. He would be tossed aside as worthless. He would be sent away right after birth to an orphanage where his outlook would be grim and no one to love him. If I tried to keep my son I would be ostracized by my community. His only hope would be to be adopted, and if that did not occur by the time he was 4 he would be sent to an institution where his care would be even grimmer. I have seen videos of such institutions and been just gutted by what I saw.... and because my brain cannot fathom that type of treatment I rationalized that that must not be true...or that only happens in very few places and they must be 3rd world countries... but the truth is it does happen, in fact there is a family trying to adopt a little girl from one of these institutions right now who is 9 years old....and she weighs 10 pounds. TEN POUNDS. My heart and head cannot comprehend that. Why??.... because she was born with an extra chromosome, like my son. THAT. IS. SO. WRONG. ....How can they not know that is wrong? How can they not see the beauty in these precious children?
There is a mom here in the US who after her son Reece was born with Down syndrome learned of the tragedy I wrote of above.... and she was moved to action, because these children just like her son...just like my son, deserve so much more. She started a non profit organization called Reece's Rainbow that helps raise funds for families who are wanting to adopt these children...to re-write their life story, to give them a home to call their own and a family to love them and show them they are valued and precious. In five years Reece's Rainbow has helped over 500 children find their Forever Families... unbelievable, I am so grateful she followed her heart to help make a difference!! Here in the United States there are waiting lists to adopt children born with Down syndrome, thank you USA for getting it, for valuing life...but for our little friends oceans away it is not the same, they do not have people in their country waiting to adopt them.... and they need our help.
Reece's Rainbow is kicking off their annual Christmas Angel Tree Fundraiser, where they raise money to go directly into the children's adoption funds. When you donate $35 or more, you will recieve a beautiful photo ornament of your sponsored child to hang on your tree. This is a very special way to "share Christmas" with an orphaned child. The goal is to help raise at least $1,000 for each child. Click here to see the faces of these precious little ones needing our help, waiting for their "Forever Families" and watch their funds grow as we together raise awareness of this tremendous need.

How incredible to be able to make a donation that LITERALLY will help save a life. ...And what a great message to share with your children.

Please consider sharing about Reece's Rainbow and The Christmas Angel Tree Fundraiser if you have a blog, or on facebook..... you never know just how far your efforts could go, you may know someone who can make an incredible difference in one or more of these children's lives. 

Can you imagine my Reid in an orphanage? It is so unfathomable to me.... 





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