New Week. New Updates.

This is a great way to start my week.

Refreshed.

Happy boys playing.

Pie making (finally!).

And a great joy is the ever anticipated update - a positive one - from BDO. I eat these things for lunch I tell ya.

Here we go...a little cut and paste action with highlights which affect us. Our life. Our family. Our journey. Our daughter.
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The proposed Board of Directors met for a third time on October 6th. (Note: I believe this is more times that the old board would have met in a 2 year time frame...possibly more. Not placing blame...I'm just sayin'.) BDO was in attendance.

With respect to the action plan outlined in BDO’s last general update, the following goals have been met:

• Two full time staff and one part-time staff have been hired. All these staff members are former employees of Imagine Adoption and bring strong knowledge and experience to their roles. As outlined in the Proposal, Jo Ann Barber will be returning as Adoption Administrator, Valerie Goodyear will be responsible for Adoption Programming, and Melissa Burke will be responsible for Clinical Education and Support Services
• The Board of Directors is now actively working on filling the position of Executive Director. We have received 6 applications and will begin interviewing the first week in November.
• The new office has been furnished and current, active files have been transferred from BDO.
• Office telephones will be installed during the week of October 19th and we are expecting delivery of computers (and remaining telecommunication equipment) by the following week.
• The Ontario Ministry license renewal application was completed and submitted to the Ministry October 9th as required.
• The renewal agreement contracts have been drafted and the Board is working towards the goal of e-mailing these contracts to families during the week of October 19th. (Hello! That's this week people! Hold your breath with me.)
• Arrangements have been made for a delegation from Imagine Adoption, including Ted Giesbrecht, to travel to Ethiopia to establish new orphanage contracts, assess existing operations, to assist with cases of children currently matched with families, and other relationship building matters. The delegation will arrive and begin work in Addis Ababa on November 1st. (Seriously. Ted Giesbrecht is worth his weight in gold, diamonds, platinum, if you will. Bless his legal, philanthropical heart. The guy is truly a gem.)
• Initial fund transfers to Ethiopian orphanages have been made and staff members have been instructed to proceed with the administration of the cases of the children still in Ethiopia who have been matched with. We are pleased to report that one of these families has had a successful court date!
• With the goal of achieving much greater transparency than existed in the past, the Board of Directors is working on determining a new communication strategy. We will advise in future updates.
• As part of the above communication item, the Board is currently looking into the possibility of reactivating and expanding Imagine Adoption’s previous website. (Great news!) In the meantime, we will aim to provide general updates every ten business days on the BDO website.

In response to questions we have received since October 1st:

Q: What steps have been taken with respect to fundraising?

A: The Board of Directors does plan to implement fundraising initiatives in the near future. As Imagine Adoption does not have charitable status we are unable to provide tax receipts for any donations. However we are setting up a separate account for donations and we encourage families to proceed with fundraising initiatives. (Anyone know of someone with a wad burning a hole in their pocket? I've got a good place to put the green.)

With thanks for your continued patience and support.

Board of Directors