Connecting Roots

Hi, I'm Jake Wood, and I'm raising funds for Connecting Roots, a nonprofit dedicated to reuniting adoptees with their biological families in Chile.

I became aware of Connecting Roots while responding to the disaster in Texas in early July. While there I met a K-9 searcher named Tyler Graf, who was taking time away from his work as a Houston Firefighter to volunteer with his dog to find victims and survivors.

While chatting, Tyler shared his other mission: helping Chilean-Americans that were kidnapped into adoption in the 1980s reconnect with their biological families in Chile.

Tyler himself was a victim of this travesty. That inspired him to launch Connecting Roots.

Tyler shared with me the challenges of building and scaling a nonprofit, and asked me for advice on how to raise funds.

Well, I gave him some advice... but I'd rather give him some money! Let's all chip in to make this amazing American's life of service a little bit easier.

Any amount counts and adds up.

By donating to this cause, you can directly help those in need of connection and closure.

Your support helps Connecting Roots make a difference by contributing toward efforts like:

Thank you for your support!

In February 2025, Connecting Roots will be traveling to Chile for the second year in a row with several adoptees for a reunion with their biological families. They were all adopted to the United States as infants and this will be their first time traveling back to the country of their birth.

During the 1970's through the early 1990's in Chile and under the regime of dictator Augusto Pinochet, thousands of babies and children were trafficked out of the country. The babies were born to poor, vulnerable, or indigenous women and adopted internationally without their consent or knowledge. With the help of Connecting Roots, the adoptees learned the difficult truth about their adoptions and have been reunited with their biological families over video call. The adoptees, mothers, and siblings all long for that first physical embrace and reunion now more than ever. The adoptees also want to connect with their roots, heritage and culture, which was stolen from them at a young age.

Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to offset the travel expenses of this annual trip for the adoptees. Also, some of the adoptee's family members that live in other parts of Chile will be traveling to Santiago to greet their son or daughter at the airport. Connecting Roots will be covering any expenses incurred with travel to and from their home along with the adoptees hotel stays for the night of February 22, 2025. Your donation will help fund these travel costs and hotel stays and make it possible for them to have that first embrace they are longing for. Any donation will help make an impact. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause!

More information about Connecting Roots:

Connecting Roots is a U.S. non-profit organization whose goal is to reunite adoptees with their biological Chilean families. We have teams working in the United States and Chile.

Click the link to the right to visit the Connecting Roots website: Connecting Roots. Donations can also be made directly via the website here: Website Donation Link.