Before I tell you about the story behind the Blog title, let me remind everyone that this Sunday at midnight the voting will end for the final round of the "Essence of Childhood" contest. So this is the last reminder that you will get before the contest is over.
Also, I just wanted to thank everyone that tried so hard to make the goal of the 20 comments posts for the contest last week. I really enjoyed reading all of the wonderful things you had to say. Unfortunately, the goal of 20 comments didn't quite happen. Maybe I will try the contest again in the future.
Now on to the story behind the Blog title. I recently learned of an amazing upstate family that have taken on the seemingly impossible goal of adopting a young boy from Africa who was very close to dying. This family, David and Stephanie Dodd of Greer, felt they were given a chance from God to help make a difference in this child's life so they jumped at the chance even though the cost of doing so was well out of their reach. After talking to Alvin's new adopted grandmother and hearing about their story, I told her that I would love to share the family's story with all of my blog readers in hopes that some of you out there could and would be willing to help them out. So let me share with you The Dodd's story, written by Stephanie Dodd herself.
Alvin’s journey began
in Liberia, West Africa. Where he has a mother and five siblings who
love and care for him. At age eleven, Alvin’s
life changed forever. When left paralyzed weeks after a car accident, doctors there
unknowingly misdiagnosed the cause of his paralysis, instead treating him for
tuberculosis. As time dragged on and Alvin
lay in a hospital bed, where complications arose placing him near death, doctors gave
up hope that now thirteen year old Alvin
could be saved. Sadly and selflessly, Alvin's mother knew she had one chance to save her son. She
could give him up for adoption and pray that he would be adopted by a family who could get
him the lifesaving care he needed.
Our Journey with Alvin
began with a friend’s Facebook update. After reading Alvin’s story,
seeing his wounds and the desperate search for an adoptive family I knew God
had planned for Alvin
to be our son. In spite of the seemingly insurmountable odds against adopting Alvin and getting him to
help in time, red tape seemed to fall away with one exception. In order to get him
safely to the States, an air ambulance had to be hired at a cost $98,750. This
amount was unobtainable for us. We started to raise the funds but realized Alvin would die before we
could get the money to pay for the flight. The air ambulance company agreed to take a $20,000
deposit, which we borrowed, but then the full remaining fee of $78,780 would be due within 90 days.
Three weeks after that Facebook update Alvin
was on his way to Greenville
Memorial Hospital
and the excellent medical care he so desperately needed. Since his arrival on August 13, 2009, Alvin has
undergone five surgeries and his health continues to improve. We are hopeful
that we will be able to bring him home soon. However, we still face the challenge of raising the money to pay for the air
ambulance by November 6, 2009. Our hope is that by spreading the word of Alvin’s story, generous supporters will
come forth and help us attain our financial goal.
Thank You,
Stephanie & David Dodd
I received some good news from Stephanie last night, Alvin was able to come home from the hospital yesterday. He still has a long road of recovery ahead of him, but the this road is much more obtainable than the one to certain death he had back in Africa. I know that many of us are struggling to make ends meet ourselves, but even the smallest donation can go along way to helping this family meet their financial obligation to the air ambulance company. If you would like to help the Dodd family in their goal to raise the money before the November 6th deadline, here is the information need in order to do so.
How to
Donate
Make checks
payable to
Alvin Jackson
Dodd
with a memo
of Air Ambulance Fund
For tax
deductible donations
make checks
payable to
Acres of Hope
with a memo
of Alvin Jackson Dodd fund.
Mail all
checks to
Stephanie &
David Dodd
119
Cherrywood Trail
Greer, SC
29650
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