Embracing Children Humanitarian Organization

							                       First Annual Newsletter
                              March 2005
ECHO is a non-profit organization committed to creating forever families by
providing financial grants to assist Canadians with the high cost of adoption.


FACTS
Fees for adoption range from $10,000 - $30,000 or more, with most families
seeking personal loans or spending their life savings to adopt a child from an
orphanage.

ECHO provides grants - not loans - so adoptive parents can focus on their child,
not their debt associated with adopting that child.
By many estimates there are well over 100,000,000 orphans in the world today
(UNICEF report: Children on the Brink 2004). Over 3,000 children are adopted
in Canada annually.

There are no other non-profit organizations such as ours. In the United States
of America, there are similar organizations; however, they do not cater to
Canadian adoptive families. We are unique to Canada.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE
The purpose of our society is:
(1) To ensure that every orphaned child has the opportunity to be adopted into
a loving family.
(2) To help reduce the number of children in foster care and orphanages around
the world.
(3) To achieve the above goals by issuing grants to families who wish to adopt,
in turn reducing the financial barrier to adoption.


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OUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS ARE:
1) Access training opportunities for all board members in order to become an
educated and smoothly running board of directors.
2) Raise at least 20,000 through government grants and fundraisers.
3) Use at least 80% of all money raised for subsidizing the adoption cost of our
grant applicants.
4) Have a fully functioning website with fundraising events, a charity store and
a grant application.
5) Become a registered charity through CCR.
6) Begin expanding our fundraising to include proposals to potential major
sponsors.
7) Start thinking about hiring an executive committee to run and expand ECHO
in the future.
8) Work towards building our membership base.
9) Issue our first grant to an adoptive family by the end of 2005.


ON THE HORIZON
Future services may include connecting with orphanages around the world to
sponsor individual children for adoption.
We will consider the possibility of expanding our financial support to individual
orphanage programs after the organization is established.


BOARD MEMBERS
ECHO became registered as a non-profit organization in February 2005 and is
managed by a Board of Directors made up of 5 members:

President - Tara Tschritter: Tara’s lifelong dream has been to adopt an orphan,
and to promote saving orphaned children from around the world through
international adoption. In her search for information about adoption, Tara
came to realize the enormous costs involved for families wanting to adopt, and
that there are no grants currently available in Canada to assist with the fees
that are required to be paid by adoptive parents. This compelled her to begin
looking into starting the non-profit that has now become ECHO. Currently Tara
works for the Ministry of Human Resources as an Employment and Assistance
Worker. Her education consists of an International Relations Degree and an
Adult Probation Certificate.



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CONTINUED BOARD MEMBERS
Vice President/Treasurer - Yasmeen Hinton: Currently Yasmeen works for
Scotiabank as a Personal Banking Officer. Her education consists of a Business
Administration Certificate and Diploma. She is currently completing her Degree
in Financial Planning. “Adoption of children is very near and dear to my heart.
Nothing could make me happier than to see a child in the arms of a loving and
nurturing family.”
Director of Human Resources/Secretary - Eve Carty: Currently Eve works for
the Ministry of Human Resources as a Verification Officer. Her education
consists of a Criminal Justice Diploma. “I believe that every child deserves an
opportunity of a life of love and a place to call home.”

Campaign Director - Maxine Russ: Currently Maxine works for the Ministry of
Human Resources as an Employment and Assistance W orker. Her education
consists of Criminology Diploma, a Computerized Accounting Diploma, a Legal
Secretary Certificate, and 2 years course work towards Child and Youth Care
Degree. “I think all teenagers, children, and babies around the world should be
given the chance to be part of a loving, caring family.”




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FUNDRAISING
We are busy brainstorming and working on a variety of Fundraising Events,
applying for financial grants, and pursuing corporate donations to raise money
for the non-profit organization.

Our first major fundraiser is a benefit concert and silent auction being held on
Saturday April 16 at the Lewisville Pub in Chemainus, BC (just outside of
Duncan). We will be featuring a fantastic local modern rock band-The B-Sharps
starting at 9pm. Keep an eye out for The B-Sharps to put on another benefit
concert in October 2005 in Victoria. Information will be provided in future
newsletters.

More fundraising ideas are in the planning stages right now and will also be
advertised in future newsletters.

We would love to hear any fundraising ideas you may have or want to help
develop, plan, and set up. If you are interested in volunteering opportunities,
please contact us at info@embracingchildren.com or complete our membership
application on the back page.

Please visit our website at www.embracingchildren.com for further information
regarding our non-profit organization.

THANKS
Our thanks go out to everyone who has helped us by providing their time,
energy, information, and feedback to get this non-profit organization started.
We greatly appreciate your enthusiasm, encouragement, and suggestions. Our
success is your success.




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