Bruce, Rhonda, Merritt, Mason, and Molly Kane


We have met 4 beautiful children who need a forever family.  We are that family.

MEETING THE CHILDREN AND RECOGNIZING THE NEED

In June, Rhonda, Merritt and I spent a week volunteering at our local Royal Family Kids Camp, a camp for kids in the foster care system who are between the ages of 7 and 12. At the end of the camp, in an unpredictable moment, we came face to face with the deep,  destructive anguish brought on by horrific child abuse as a sibling group of 4 kids waited for their excessively late ride home.

The youngest of the children collapsed into tears that were inconsolable.  The two middle children tried with all of their might to face up to their current situation, but the strain of it proved too strong for them.  They let their grief roll down their cheeks in torrential tears.  The eldest allowed only one tear to fall before restraining the flow.  However, what we saw in those eyes was harder to accept than tears.  This 13-year-old stared out at the world through eyes of resignation.  Those eyes told the world that there was no expectation of a better future for this child - a future of being wanted and loved.  

In the car on the way home, Rhonda and I tried to avoid the elephant in the front seat, but that proved too hard for us. In discussing the agonizing scene we had just left, I said, "We could bring them home."  Rhonda said, "Yep," and we exchanged a knowing look that meant we had more to discuss when we got home.


CONFIRMING OUR COMMITMENT TO ACTION

As a large sibling set, with ethnicity not genetically determined for blond hair and blue eyes, and well past the dreamy infant and toddler stages, it is statistically likely that these children will spend the rest of their childhood and youth in the foster care system.  Purely based on statistics, aging out of the system would sentence these children to a future of drug abuse, crime, and poverty.  

After a lot of discussion and spending time in prayer and fasting, we felt confirmed that our drive to make these children part of our family was God-inspired.  The next step was a family meeting. We couldn't move forward if every member of our current family of five wasn't 100% vested in becoming a family of nine. During that meeting, we answered plenty of questions, talked about what our future would look like, spent time praying together as a family, and walked away with a further confirmation that God was about to change our family.

The next day, we made contact with everyone necessary to move forward with this adoption.  We asked a few people to join us in prayer.  And, we began to research foster care regulations in order to prepare our home to house a family of 9. That process confronted us with the reality that our current home will not make the cut. We don't want it to become a barrier to our foster-adoption journey so we called a realtor.


HITTING FINANCIAL BARRIERS

The logistics are tricky.  Homes aren't built with 7 children in mind. The bedrooms in newer houses are too small and older homes don't have enough bedrooms. Then, there are the considerations of neighborhood, school district, and security. We have found a 30-year-old home in a good school district and in a safe neighborhood that we could stretch our budget to afford. However, to accommodate the day to day life of a family of 9, some modifications will be necessary.  Plus, the timing is precarious since there is no way for us to afford this house without first selling the home where we currently live.


WE NEED A TEAM TO MAKE THIS ADOPTION POSSIBLE! 

We know that there are many of you who care deeply about the struggles of abused and neglected children in America. We also know that not everyone who cares feels compelled to bring 4 children into their home. We are hoping that with you on board we can leverage all of our unique abilities to make having a forever family a reality for these 4.

Please help us restore hope for these kids as we love them into our family.

Some of you can pray.  Please pray that our home will sell immediately upon entering the market. Please pray that we can acquire the home we have pinpointed and make the necessary modifications at a price that will not cripple us.  Please pray that this will all be completed in time for the county's required home evaluation. Please pray that all of the additional financial needs of making room for 4 more children will be met. Most importantly, please pray for us as we walk through the beauty and challenges of becoming a family of 9. 

Some of you have the means to give. Perhaps you earnestly want to see children healed from the wounds of their unspeakable past and want to make that financially possible for these 4 children by giving money to help. Donations to this campaign would be used in the following way.

1.  $19,000.00 - modifications to the new home.
2.  $6,000.00 - furniture for children's rooms and for large family dining.

We fully expect not to all travel together as a family once we grow to be a family of 9.  Perhaps there is a financial blessing out there, beyond the home improvements and furniture to make a 10 passenger van available to us.  They cost about $45,000.00.

Thank you for reading our story.
Thank you for considering being a part of our adoption team.

Together we can change the world for four children.  It is in our power to give them a hope and a future.

Please share our campaign!

Bruce