Introducing . . . Xander!
Here is what I know about Xander. He is 10 years old, lives in China, and has Down Syndrome. He was found abandoned at six years old. Did you read that? SIX YEARS OLD. This means that his family managed to keep him for SIX YEARS before making the difficult decision to abandon him. I can only assume that this means they loved him very much, enough to stand up against family and/or societal pressure to abandon him as an infant. I'd like to believe that for those six years, they cared for him, celebrated his accomplishments, learned his likes and dislikes, and comforted him when he was upset or sick. I have no idea why they ultimately decided they couldn't keep him; perhaps the lack of access to medical care and education just became too much for them to overcome. Perhaps they believed he would have a better life if they gave him a chance to be adopted. Whatever the reason, Xander now needs a new family.
Xander falls into one of the least likely categories of children to be adopted: the older boy. Because he is already ten years old, he has less than four years to be found by his family before he will no longer be available to be adopted. This is China's rule, and there are no exceptions. But Xander sounds like he is doing very well! It is reported that he is active, takes care of his own personal needs (dressing, using the bathroom, etc.), and is well-behaved. It is noted that his expressive language is not good, and he uses gestures to help others understand him; however, his language is improving. But in just a little over three years, his chance of a family is gone forever.
Over the next two months, we will be advocating and fundraising for Xander as part of the Angel Tree fundraiser. Every dollar that goes into his account increases his chances of having a family. Maybe just one of those dollars pushes his account high enough to catch the attention of a family that wants to adopt a boy like Xander but doesn't have the financial means to do so. As an adoptive parent who was in the middle of fundraising just over a year ago, I can tell you that every single dollar truly matters.
If you want to donate to Xander's Angel Tree account, you can do that by going here - http://static.reecesrainbow.org/angeltree2015/ Once you get to this page, you can use CTRL-F to search for Xander, or you can just scroll down the page to find him. If you donate at least $35, you will receive a Christmas ornament from Reece's Rainbow as a thank-you. Our family will also be launching some fundraisers to help raise money for Xander, so stay tuned for more details on those! The goal for all the Angel Tree children is to raise at least $1000 for their accounts. Please help us to help Xander!
And another picture of Xander, just for fun:
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