Do me a favor?

I feel like I actually have some interesting life things to share, like the fact that we were in a Texas for a few days for training at our adoption agency, or that my mom and brother are here visiting or that I thought I made myself blind by getting paint stripper in my eye. Instead, I'll leave you in suspense to await the exciting details of all that (sarcasm noted, right? nothing too crazy going on here) to give you a post from a virtual friend/fellow Give1Save1 blogger on something that is clearly near to my heart.

The following was written by Lindsay Hirth and is re-posted with permission from the author herself. You can go check out the original over here.

Farewell

Over the last nine months, I have been involved in one of the greatest blessings of my life. I have worked behind the scenes and as a blogger for Give1Save1, helping dozens of families offset the immense costs of providing homes and new futures to orphans around the world.

 

But I’ve decided to take a leave of absence from my post here on Give1 to tackle some other projects. And in leaving, I have a shameless request. I want a going away present. And not just any going away present…I want you to give me about $13,000 in support of my adoption…in fact, I want you to give every American adopting that much, too. 

“What did she just say?” Yep. I’m serious.

 

Adoption Tax Credit

I want you to help pass the Adoption Tax Credit. When my husband and I first considered adoption, the Adoption Tax Credit was a giant piece of the financial puzzle for us. At the time, we figured our adoption would easily be finalized in time to take advantage of the credit. Then the “slowdown” came in Ethiopian adoptions. Then we heard that that tax credit was due to be “sunset” at the end of 2012. Wow…not good news. This meant that the $13,000 we were counting on to reimburse some of the debt we were taking on for this process was probably not an option anymore. A very big deal for us…and thousands more families. 

For many years, the Adoption Tax Credit has helped 100,000 families annually to offset the costs of adoption, both domestically and internationally. It has made the difference for countless families to provide homes to foster children and the world’s many, many orphans.

Source: Hope for Orphans

 

On the fence for political reasons? I hear you. I am proud to be this group’s “token liberal” (a term I’ve given to myself), and I’m not a big fan of tax breaks when our country is at war or is facing such an immense deficit. But without this tax credit, fewer (probably dramatically fewer) families will be able to afford adoption. Fewer adoptions mean more children in “the system” (a vast majority of the people adopting in the US adopt domestically). More kids in foster care means more tax dollars needed to support that system of care. Whether we devote tax dollars directly to foster care or through the adoption tax credit, orphans need resources. They need us.

 

What You Can Do for Orphans

As it currently stands, the Adoption Tax Credit has a 1 percent chance of passing as legislation. So what can you do about it? Give us 5 minutes and call your Representative today and urge that he or she co-sponsor the bipartisan bill H.R. 4373, the Making Adoption Affordable Act.

 

You can reach your Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives by calling the U.S. Capitol Operator at 202-225-3121 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 202-225-3121 end_of_the_skype_highlighting and asking for your Representative's office. If you don't know your Representative's name, click here and enter your zip code in the box provided.

Here is the message we would ask that you give to your Representative:

• I am a constituent in your district and the adoption tax credit is important to me. (It matters to me because...)

• I urge the Representative to become a co-sponsor of The Making Adoption Affordable Act, H.R. 4373.

• If Congress does not act, the credit as we now know it will expire in December, 2012.

• H.R. 4373 is bipartisan and it supports all types of adoptions (domestic private, foster care, and international adoptions).

• This tax credit has made adoption a more viable option for many parents who might not otherwise have been able to afford adoption, allowing them to provide children with loving, permanent families.

• Thank you for your support of H.R. 4373.

 

Finally, help us spread the word about this important issue. If you want to learn more about the adoption tax credit, click here.  Also, "like" the Save the Adoption Tax Credit on Facebook.