Putian Humanitarian Aid Update: Over $28,000 has been raised to date. Please give today!

Dear Friend of Sunny Ridge Family Center:

As you know Sunny Ridge Family Center has had the privilege of facilitating the adoptions of over 3,000 children from 46 countries. We have been blessed to have had the opportunity to provide a life-changing adoption experience for these wonderful children and for the adoptive families who have had the day-to-day joys of loving and caring for them as their parents. We all have much to be thankful for.

However, we have also felt a burden to help those children, who for a variety of reasons, do not qualify for international adoption, mostly because they have special medical needs that require specialized treatment and /or facilities.

In the past, many of you helped support our "Healing the Children" program that we coordinated until 2004. Then in 2005, we raised nearly $4,000 for The Tomorrow Plan, a program administered by the China Center of Adoption Affairs that raised funds to pay for medical procedures and treatment for special needs children throughout China. This was a very successful campaign and 13,000 special needs children have received surgeries to correct their medical conditions. Several of the children who have benefited from The Tomorrow Plan have been adopted by Sunny Ridge families. Unfortunately, there are many children who are less fortunate and will never know the joy of a forever family.

In an effort to help these less fortunate children, I would like to tell you about a new special project that we hope you will consider helping us support.

While I was in China in December 2005, I met with Mr. Zhang Zhong, Deputy Director of the China Center of Adoption Affairs. I shared with him our desire to be involved in an ongoing humanitarian aid program, and we discussed additional opportunities to provide help for the children of China. During our discussion, Mr. Zhang proposed a project located in the city of Putian in Fujian Province. A city with a population of 3.23 million people, Putian is located along the southeast coast of China, along the Strait of Taiwan. He explained that there is a welfare institute, named the Putian City Nursing Home of Love, located on Meizhou Island, which is a branch of the Putian City Welfare Institute and is in need of our help.

Mr. Zhang stated that this welfare institute is very much in need of ongoing support, and if Sunny Ridge would adopt this specialized welfare institute, the support we would offer could assist the children in receiving better care, improved living conditions, and much needed medical services. This is where Sunny Ridge and you can play a vital role.

The Putian City Nursing Home of Love was established in 2003 and currently provides care for 48 special needs children, most of whom are not eligible for adoption due to their severe disabilities. There are eight staff members to care for these 48 children. Because they do not participate in the international adoption process, this welfare institute does not have the benefit of receiving funds through donations from adoptive parents. Their immediate needs are for the improvement of their facilities and for basic necessities for the children. They are in need of conveniences we all take for granted, such as: a washing machine, an air conditioner, and a heating system. In addition, there is a need for multi-function hospital beds, security walls, improved entrance and walkway -- and the never-ending need for clothing, rehabilitation equipment and medical supplies.

It is estimated that $30,000 in support and services are needed to meet these immediate needs. By supporting this project, you can have a direct impact upon the lives of many of China’s neediest children. We hope that this will be an ongoing project for years to come and that the lives of countless children will be changed through our contributions.

Would you please consider making a sizeable contribution to this endeavor? All gifts will be greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. Here's how you can contribute:

• Mail your check, payable to Sunny Ridge Family Center, and indicate in the memo portion: “Humanitarian Aid Project”
• Visit our website and use our on-line donation page. When entering your gift on the "justgive.org" page, designate Humanitarian Aid Project in the “Designate Donation” section

For checks sent by mail, please send to:

Sunny Ridge Family Center
Humanitarian Aid Project
270 Remington Boulevard, Suite C
Bolingbrook, Illinois 60440

You should also know that Mr. Ji Gang, Director of Domestic Adoptions at the China Center of Adoption Affairs, has invited me to come back to Beijing, and he will personally escort me to Putian to meet with the welfare institute staff and to explore other avenues of service to meet the needs of the children. I would like to accept his offer and present our initial gift representing the commitment and desire we have to make the lives of the children of the Putian City Nursing Home of Love more comfortable.

Please pass this request on to your friends, family members and work colleagues, church organizations or school groups. Here's a printer-friendly version (PDF) that you can share. Even if they have not adopted from China or through one of our other international adoption programs, they can become participants in this life-changing ministry of “serving children and building families around the world.”

Yours in service to children around the world,

Robert McNeill, M Div., Director
Sunny Ridge Family Center International Adoptions