Mishka with a Cause!

This week we received a package on the front step. It was addressed to “Baby Deetz”. I hope they don’t mind but we couldn’t wait until they got here to open it. After strategically peeling off several layers of packing tape, we pried off the lid- and it was a Mishka! With a cute little red backpack. It was from Grammy and Poppy (my parents, no those names are not official) Inside the little bears backpack was a check (some funny money for the Fall Consignment Sale at church next week) and a Target gift card. That was so nice!
Well, the best surprise was in reading the bear’s tag. It was from Jockey (the underoo store) and it was called the “Jockey Being Family Bear”. A proceed of the cost of the bear benefit the owner of Jockey store’s charity- the Debra Steigerwaldt Waller Foundation for Adoption. The foundation was established in 2005. Their effort is to keep “forever families together forever” by funding post-adoptive services to families that are having trouble adjusting. They also raise awareness for corporations to help different companies employees adopt. Jockey is on the list of “adoption friendly workplaces” offering $10,000 to their employees if they choose to adopt. You can check out the whole list on http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/Our-Work/Adoption-Friendly-Workplace/Best-Adoption-Friendly-Workplaces-List-(1) The bear costs $8.50 and $3.00 is given directly to the foundation for each bear purchased. You can buy them in stores, online, or at the “Being Family” website: http://www.jockeybeingfamily.com/
November is “National Adoption Awareness Month” and if you buy a bear in November, 100% of proceeds will benefit the foundation. They would make a great gift for your caseworker!

O.K. so I call my mom to thank her. She tells me that she bought the bear just because she thought he was cute. Then she read the tag and went back in to talk to the store owner, to tell her that she was buying the bear for her future adopted grandchild. The owner said that she herself was adopted and she thinks it’s a great cause and wanted to sell them in her store. (That’s just the inside scoop in case you wanted to know!)