All for the love of one baby boy.

I don't remember exactly when I met My blogging friend Karianne, but I do remember that from the start she has been such a sweet, uplifting, and inspiring soul. She has been through a lot over the last few years, and though she has her ups and down like the rest of us, she never seems to let those external forces affect her. It doesn't matter what is going on in her world, she has never had anything but kind and supportive words for others.

Karianne recently had a moment -while stopped at a light in traffic and gazing at a beautiful gown in a window across the street- where she realized that there would be no need for her to ever wear a beautiful gown, ever again... These thoughts would eventually lead to a fund raiser for the adoption agency that she adopted her son Becken from. She wrote:

I called my sister at work and said, "I'm so sad that this part of my life is over. No more proms, formals or weddings. And if you are lucky enough to be asked to be in someone's wedding, you don't get to pick your own dress or the color. I just can't believe that I won't be buying any more beautiful dresses."
Fast forward to around Christmas time. I was looking through a consignment shop by my house, rifling through their pretty gowns that were gently worn. The price tags were so reasonable, less than $50 each, but I had no where to wear them. What would the point be in buying one?

And then I had an idea. And I called my sister again.

I told her, "I"m having prom for my birthday this year!"

She said, "Hmmm. Okay?", very hesitantly.

So here is how, Karianne's Birthday Prom & Fundraiser was born.

In her second post about her prom ideas, Karianne said:

But here was the catch. If we were going to party on this scale, what about gifts, etc. I felt weird at having over 100 people for my birthday. So I turned it into a fund raiser for Bec's orphanage. The music and the photographers have donated their services...

Here is the plan. Admission is $5. It is byob. We are having a money tree. We are having a spare change drive. We are having a 50/50 raffle. The photo profits will also go to the orphanage program. Our agency has a program that provides scholarships for their staff to further their education and this is where we want the money to go. I had the fund raising coordinator for the agency cracking up on the phone yesterday getting instructions on how to do this thing right...

The hall is like a bomb shelter almost, so imagine the prom on Footloose. I think that we are doing foil stars and streamers. It is costing me$300 for the rental, so I hope that we can bring in enough to pay me back and then donate 300 to the cause. I might be dreaming on this one though.

My buds and cousins around here are my prom committee. We are doing decorations. Bringing cookies and appetizers. We are also electing prom king and queen.

In her 3rd post, she talks excitedly about the news of her prom spreading like wildfire amongst friends , coworkers and family, and how everyone is feverishly trying to find a beautiful prom outfit. :D

I asked Karianne if she had thought about a donate button from PayPal after another person had asked if they could buy a Virtual Prom Ticket. It sounds like setting up the PayPal donations to go to the orphanage the took some doing, but she was able to figure it out with the help of her brother.

Yesterday, Karianne wrote a beautiful post about her journey to find Becken, I encourage you to read this inspiring story of love and loss.

Our baby has been home almost one year and we are so thankful for him and for his caregivers that cared for him for 5 months before us. We are donating our money from Prom, (after expenses) to their scholarship fund as a way to try to pay them back in some way for loving our son...

(quoted from her Virtual Prom Ticket post)

Now, you really won't get a "prom" ticket, but you'll know that you are making a donation, through me, to AAI for their staff scholarship program. And I'm so thankful in advance.

The button is over on the right if you are feeling the need to share some $ with Ethiopia!

If you can, think about donating. I really think this is a wonderful idea, and I had the honor of being the first to donate through her PayPal button on her blog! Thanks for taking the time to read this, I know that Karianne, and her family would be grateful for any donations they would receive on the behalf of Becken's adoption agency, Adoption Advocates International.

Karianne know that if I had enough money, I would be squeezing myself into a prom dress, too. ;) But know I will be thinking of you, your friends and family on this wonderful night (April 14th, right?)... and will be there in spirit.