November 08, 2024
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Family turns to community for funds to adopt Haitians

FREEPORT – Robin Monahan and John Morang have four children, three of them adopted. But they have decided they have room for two more, a boy and a girl from impoverished Haiti. The problem is the cost of the adoption.

The family has resorted to methods used by soccer teams and high school bands to raise $10,000 to cover the adoption cost: a car wash, a raffle and a fund-raiser at a local restaurant. They’ll do whatever it takes.

“We wouldn’t ask if it weren’t for the kids,” Monahan said. “It’s not for us. It’s for the children.”

Monahan, 44, and Morang, 57, already have a busy home.

Their two daughters are Emily and Addie. Emily, 9, was a baby when the couple adopted her from China. Addie, 7, also was an infant when they adopted her from Cambodia. Their boys are Benjamin, 4, the couple’s biological son, and their youngest son, 8-month-old Frank, who was born in Chicago.

They adopted Frank in January, but want to open their door to two more children. However, family finances are strained from the $62,000 it took to adopt the other children.

The first event will be a fund-raiser on Oct. 7 at the Azure Cafe. Jonas Werner, who owns the restaurant with his wife, said he volunteered to host the event because the family made an impression on him.

“It’s about the community coming together and working towards the same goal: taking care of children,” said Werner, a father of two. “Nothing is more important than children.”

The fact that adoptions can cost thousands of dollars deters some would-be parents, says Sister Theresa Therrien, an adoption supervisor at St. Andre’s Home, an adoption agency and group home in Biddeford. “There are a lot of good people who want to adopt who are put off by the cost,” she said.


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