This afternoon we got a call letting us know that we have been approved for a grant of $25,000 towards the purchase of the converted van. Needless to say, there were tears of joy on the phone; so much so I could hardly squeak out a "Thank-you!". Although we were believing for that money to come through, it was a wonderful relief when we could actually hear the words.
I think I failed to mention that last month we were denied on one of the other larger grants we had applied to. The way they cap their household income we were just a couple thousand over; unfortunately last year because of a couple side jobs Kurt did, we lost out on a lot of funding. However discouraging at the time, we decided that we would continue to trust for the funds to come through; we just might have to look a bit harder for it.
Currently, we have applications in to two other children's charities and two local societies. They are for smaller amounts of money, but combined, it will really help us meet our goal. We are hoping that by the end of September all the funding will have come through.
I think we have finalized the choice of van and conversion, we are currently just working out the details for selling our van vs trading it in. The van will take about 4 months once it has been ordered. The conversion happens in Michigan or back East, so it has to be shipped here once it is completed. So it will be December, at the earliest, before we see it.
I will try and keep updating as the funds come in. At this point, between the grant money and the money that has been fund-raised through Karter's movie day and other generous donations, we are over half way there. We are continuing to believe that God will provide the rest of the funding.
