October 10, 2007

URGENT -- your help needed. This time it is Lynn and Alan's daughter who needs your help. And, this time, we are asking for more than prayers. We are asking for your action. [Author's note -- please remember that this is a reprint from 2007. Please do not call your Senators and Representatives, as they will not know what you are talking about.]

For those of you who might not yet know the story, Lynn and Alan are trying to adopt a sweet girl from Guatamala whom they plan to name Catherine. Right now this adoption is "pending" and is expected to be finalized early next year. But, the current government of Guatamala is planning to stop allowing all adoptions by US families as of January 1, 2008, including those that are in process. This means Susanna won't be able to come home. Her birth mother has already given up her parental rights, and Lynn and Alan are the only family Catherine has. (I'm sure I've got some of the facts a little bit askew, but you can learn more at the website in the next paragraph.) If her adoption is terminated, we don't know what will become of this innocent child. Guatamala simply does not have enough funds to support the 5000 children that will lose the only home they have if this situation is not fixed.

For those of you haunting this page daily, please check out www.jcics.org right away and look for information on the Guatamala 5000 and click on the link about what you can do to help. They are asking for your phone calls to your US Senators and Representatives no later than tomorrow (Thursday, October 11th.) and there are guidelines of what they want you to say. They are trying to get all phonecalls to occur within a 72 hour window that ends tomorrow. This is something real we can do to try to be sure Catherine comes home to Lynn and Alan. [Author's note -- again, this is a reprint. Please do not call.]

ALSO -- special request for folks in Florida, near Orlando. If you are a blood donor and are eligible to donate now, please donate blood and credit it to Alan ____. I understand you can donate at Florida Hospital or at any blood bank. Currently, Alan is getting more blood than is being donated back in his name, and this will continue until his kidneys begin to function better. This is another real, concrete way we can relieve the burden on Lynn and Alan right now while they are stuck in Florida.

Hugs to all of you, and thanks for everyone for your help. Please also share this story with your friends and neighbors and spread the word. I promise that we will return soon to the "Michael Story," but trust me -- this helps Michael. Keeping all pieces of this family together, including Aunt Lynn, Uncle Alan, and cousins Cori and Catherine, helps Michael.

Megan