|  | | Founding Family Charitable Foundation, an IRS 501[c][3] nonprofit corporation, was organized and incorporated in January 2005 by Sarah Rummage and Nina Ottinger. However, the vision and desire for this ministry began in 2001 when Nina adopted her daughter from Jiangxi Province, China. Nina, as a single woman, had applied to be a foster parent to children in the United States, and was open to the possibility of adopting should one of these children ‘adopt her.’ But this never worked out. When she had just about given up on becoming a mom, two things happened. First, she got a job with a company with better than average adoption benefits, and secondly, she made friends with a couple who were in the process of making application to adopt their second daughter from China. They explained the procedure to Nina, and she contacted their agency, made application, and traveled with this couple, to China in 2001 to get her daughter. Even though she had adoption benefits with her job, it was a struggle to come up with all the money she needed for the adoption. Of course, the blessings far outweigh the costs, and she would do it a thousand times again to get her precious daughter. However, adopting a child helped Nina see the vast number of children who need families, and the financial need and obstacle that many worthy and good parents have when they try to come up with the upfront fees to adopt. We are open to God’s leading in helping parentless children in any part of the world. However, we have a great personal interest in the children of China. The Peoples Republic of China has a very organized adoption process through the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA).The process is not quick or easy, nor is it totally predictable as the guidelines change about the time prospective adoptive parents think they have them figured out. Generally, though, the time from dossier submission to the CCAA, to referral (when the adoptive parents get aspecific child and his/her photo) is approximately six-nine months,with travel approximately six to eight weeks after accepting the referral. Travel to China takes approximately two weeks, and the paperwork is very streamlined and efficient once the parents are in the country. The adoption is finalized in one trip. There is not the need to make several trips, as some countries require. Our board of directors consists of Nina Ottinger, Sarah Rummage, Don Murphy and John Rummage. We hope to be adding four more directors and an advisory group in the near future. | |
