His Kids reaches out to orphans
In October, I had the privilege of joining His Kids Too!, a Tallahassee-based ministry, for 16 days of life-changing ministry in the Ukraine. From the moment we arrived, we were working hard to help the hurt and needy orphans.…read more…(type in manually, this link will not work, Northeast Chronicle, December 6, 2007) www.tallahassee.com/chronicle
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Summer 2007
Ukraine Trip 2007
By: Nancy Cooper
Simply holding hands, singing songs, and making crafts with them was enough to show that we cared. Each of us showed God's love in some way that week: playing basketball, teaching a game, or leading a silly song. I'm so grateful to our church and His Kids, Too! for the opportunity to have been able to reach out to the children of Dzerzhinsk in this memorable way.
Originally published March 19, 2007
By TaMaryn Waters
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
It started as an idea.
Theresa and Maureen McKenna were learning how to sharpen their skills during a medical mission trip in the Dominican Republic three years ago. They couldn't help but notice people, especially women, who walked for miles barefoot. Many of the villagers' injuries could be avoided if they had a pair of shoes.
The 26-year-old twins, who are medical students at Florida State University, launched the "Share a Pair" drive to help provide shoes for people living in poverty-stricken areas of the world, such as Africa, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Since the Tallahassee Democrat reported the story in November, they've collected more than 2,000 pairs. They recently went to Haiti and left behind four suitcases full of shoes.
"We anticipated that people would participate, but the response has been phenomenal," McKenna said.
The donations vary from new and used athletic shoes to dress shoes and high heels. The twins stored them in their apartment and Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church until the bounty became too much for the small quarters.
Garnet & Gold business owner Guy Moore saw the article and offered to house the donations in the store's warehouse. There, volunteers and employees sort them and place them in clear plastic bags.
"It's one of those tangible charities that you can do," Moore said.
A container that can be used for shipping the shoes can range from $4,000 to $6,000 when sent from Miami to the designated country. In an effort to help the twins, Moore discovered there was a local couple who sent off shoes and clothes to orphans in the Ukraine through their charity, "His Kids, Too!"
He also found someone who builds homes in Haiti. As a result of that collaboration, a 20-foot container will be shipped to Tallahassee this week, and the twins won't have to pay the shipping costs to Haiti.
"We're hoping to send two to three containers a year," said McKenna, who said they are currently fundraising for the cost of the next container.
Teresa Fillmon, who runs the His Kids, Too! charity with her husband, Rich, said they were in need of children's shoes for the charity.
"These girls collected tons of shoes. They had this great idea, and they didn't know it was going to be like this," Fillmon said.
Although medical school keeps the twins busy, the Share a Pair drive has flourished as a result of their commitment, the local community, and of course, shoes – and plenty of them.
Contact reporter TaMaryn Waters at (850) 599-2162 or tlwaters@tallahassee.com.
Employees of Garnet and Gold sort shoes
Shoes ready to ship!
Guy Moore and Teresa with hundreds of pair of
shoes ready to be boxed for shipping to Ukraine.
Dad and daughter deliver gifts to Ukrainian children
By: Teresa Fillmon
Tallahassee Democrat Northeast Chronicle
Several orphanages in Ukraine had two unlikely visitors over the holidays.
Under the direction of the local charity His Kids, Too!, Tallahasseeans Rich Fillmon and his daughter, Lydia, a Lincoln High School senior, flew to Ukraine on Christmas Day for a two-week stay in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dzerzhinsk.
Hundreds of Christmas boxes from six states, valued at more than $8,000, were waiting to be distributed when they arrived. Hundreds of Ukrainian orphans received these goodie-filled boxes, their only Christmas gifts.
In September, His Kids, Too! will be collecting boxes to send to orphans in Ukraine for Christmas. Contact the organization for more information at 524-5437 or view the Web site at www. hiskidstoo.org.
Special thanks to the wonderful outpouring of love and donations from Raa Middle School. Geography teacher Jane Walker spearheaded the 5th clothing drive. Below is the article from the Tallahassee Democrat .
Other schools pitch in
By: Marci Elliott, Tallahassee Democrat, December 24, 2006
Several Leon County schools have been helping work holiday miracles in recent weeks.
Leon High was among many schools that collected tons of food for needy families at Thanksgiving.
The Raa Middle School Junior Beta Club gathered and distributed Christmas gifts for children in that community.
"I am so very proud of Raa's Junior Beta Club," club sponsor Lynne Harris said. "The students are so kind-hearted to share with others during this special time of year."
In October, Raa teacher Jane Walker's sixth-grade geography classes participated in a service project to benefit orphans in Ukraine.
"The students were very touched by the plight of these orphans when Mrs. Teresa Fillmon, the director of a nonprofit organization called 'His Kids, Too!', spoke to them," Walker said. "The students opened up their hearts and purses and collected about 575 pounds of clothing, personal-care items and toys to be sent to the Ukraine. They also donated $645 for His Kids, Too!"
The teenagers in Swift Creek Middle School's Student Government Association adopted three families through the "Creek Holiday Connection, said Debbie Gibson, intensive math teacher. They provided the families with warm jackets and clothes, food, household needs and gifts.
"This is the second year the (Swift Creek) Wolves have adopted families for the holidays," Gibson said, "and it looks as if it will become an annual project."
Because of your support His Kids, Too! has grown, and others see this growth and continue to bless this ministry. We thank you. This will allow us to reach more and
more children for Christ. Below is the report from the Tallahassee Democrat .
Local charity receives grant
Tallahassee Democrat, December 20, 2006
His Kids, Too!, a Tallahassee-based nonprofit organization that helps thousands of orphans in Ukraine, has received a $20,000 grant from the Independent Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, Ala.
This is the second year the charity has been a recipient of an award from the Independent Presbyterian Church, according to Teresa Fillmon, executive director of the charity.
This year, the grant has been designated for salary support for the director and for providing humanitarian aid in Ukraine in 2007. For more information about His Kids, Too!, visit www.hiskidstoo.org or call (850) 524-5437.
His Kids, Too! was recently featured in Charisma Magazine, November 2006. Volunteer Domini Hedderman of PA wrote the wonderful article after interviewing Teresa Fillmon about orphans in Ukraine. His Kids, Too! would like to thank Charisma Magazine for their committment to providing an outlet to the world to read about the plight of orphans in Ukraine.
By Kathy Grobe, Tallahassee Magazine, July/August 1999
Rich and Teresa Fillmon became acquainted with Ukraine and its people through the Meridian Woods Church of Christ, where they are members. They came to know a people who need much and ask for nothing after missionary trips to the area; they soon realized that, as Teresa Fillmon says, “the key is to get those kids out of there.” A family of deep faith, the Fillmons acknowledged the Scriptural admonition in James 1:27 to “look after orphans and widows” as further motivating them to adopt a Ukrainian child.
Fellow church members Faye Howell and Michael Webb and Howell’s daughter, Lauren, joined the Fillmons in their Ukrainian odyssey. To adopt 4-year-old Artur, the Fillmons and their friends surmounted bureaucratic snafus, state holidays, a language barrier and several 22-hour train rides.
“A Ukrainian adoption actually takes only 3 1/2 weeks,” Teresa says, “but we were at a time disadvantage from the start because we missed our plane (in Tallahassee), and then they lost our luggage.”
As annoying as all that was, it was just the beginning. The previous October, Teresa had traveled to Ukraine with a shipment of humanitarian aid – medicine, toiletries and other simple necessities that we often take for granted. “What about adopting a Ukrainian child?” Rich had asked her before the trip. He urged her to “look around, be open” to the possibilities.
All Ukrainian adoptions start at the Adoption Center in Kiev, the capital, Teresa relates. The normal procedure is to inform officials the age range of the children you’re interested in and to let them know if you prefer to adopt from a specific region of the country. Then you see pictures of children from that area who might meet your criteria; you’re invited to visit the children and make your selection.
“Although you are not allowed to pre-select a child for adoption,” Teresa says, “I felt that (in October) the Lord had led me to a boy in Dzerzhinsk named Anatoly. Our church supports the orphanage there, and I had every intention of going over and picking up Anatoly.” To begin with, the Fillmons traveled to Ukraine and their friends, the Howell-Webb family, journeyed as far as Prague, in the Czech Republic, where they waited to learn how they might help out.
The Best-Laid Plans
Although the Fillmons had no way of knowing it, the Ukrainian bureaucracy would quickly quash Teresa’s original plan to adopt Anatoly. Because someone at the orphanage in Dzerzhinsk had placed a child with no regard to the official guidelines, the government downgraded it to a foster home. Children from Dzerzhinsk were no longer eligible for adoption.
Not to be deterred, the Fillmons decided to travel to Dzerzhinsk first to drop off seven 70-pound bags of humanitarian aid they were carrying. The trip had a second purpose as well, they say. “Someone told us that since there had been a bad adoption out of that orphanage, we should talk to the mayor.” Perhaps he would be willing to help them circumvent normal channels and adopt the child Teresa had met earlier. The plan was a miserable failure. For Teresa, it was back to Kiev and the Adoption Center following a passionately negative response to their proposal.
“We knew from the beginning that this (the adoption) was God’s will,” Rich Fillmon says. “We also knew that these obstacles were put in our way just to distract us.” Reassurance also came from another front. When Teresa called Howell in Prague and mentioned that the adoption might have to wait until a later trip, Howell urged her to go somewhere else. “There’s got to be a boy for you somewhere,” she urged her friend. Another traveling companion, Lyuba Yenatska, a Russian translator from Gainesville, pushed the Fillmons to at least try other cities.
Back in Kiev, following her first shower in six days, Teresa Fillmon visited the Adoption Center again, trying to determine her options and make some decisions. Tamara Kunko, the center’s administrator, was adamant that the orphanage at Dzerzhinsk was no longer an option. “It was the Ukrainian equivalent of ‘What part of no don’t you understand?’” Teresa recalls.
Twenty-Two Hours on a Train
Mrs. Kunko offered pictures of several 3- and 4-year-old boys, children of the Fillmons’ target age and gender. The orphanage in Mariupol had six boys who qualified, Teresa says; she felt as if that would give them a greater chance to find the child they were seeking. It was back to the station for another train ride, this one 22 hours long. Rich and the children remained in Dzerzhinsk after deciding it would be easier if only one person made the return trip.
The Ukrainian adoption system had Teresa on a tight schedule. All paperwork related to adoption is processed in Kiev, and once she selected a child, she was responsible for delivering the necessary papers to the Adoption Center. Since faxing was out of the question (the group saw only one fax machine during its entire stay in Ukraine), that meant another grueling train ride back to Kiev as soon as the child was chosen. There were other challenges as well – Teresa arrived in Mariupol around 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon; the last train of the week returned to Kiev at 5:50! “I had 20 minutes to select my child.”
Because she wanted to observe them in as natural an environment as possible, Teresa asked the boys’ teacher to simply lay her hands on those children who were eligible for adoption. One by one, she pointed out the children from whom Teresa could choose. Some did not look well, and others seemed to have difficulty relating to their peers. Soon Artur, a small boy with gleaming eyes and a captivating smile, entered the room. His self-confidence and personality were readily apparent. When the teacher indicated that he could be adopted, Teresa quickly chose him as her son.
With Artur’s paperwork in hand, Teresa made it to the train station just in time to send the papers on the 22-hour journey back to Kiev. They arrived on a Friday afternoon, too late to be processed. Then Rich and the children took the 2 a.m. train to Mariupol to join Teresa. They met their new son and brother for the first time when Teresa arranged for Artur to spend the night with them in a hotel.
Learning the Art of the Deal
The whirlwind of paperwork and legal approvals intensified. Next, the Fillmons needed a court date before a Ukrainian judge so that the adoption could be approved. March 8 was their target, but that was Women’s Day, a national holiday in Ukraine. (Because many men work hazardous jobs and die young, the role of women assumes great significance in Ukraine. Women fill many essential government positions.) They finally were scheduled to meet the judge March 9 to finalize Artur’s adoption.
Even securing the appointment proved to be a lesson in negotiating, Ukrainian style. “At first, we thought the judge looked solid,” Rich recalls, “but then he started throwing up stumbling blocks – ‘I’m a very busy man; I can’t possibly work you in.’ – things like that. I began to realize he wanted a gift!”
Giving a gift isn’t all that unusual in Ukraine, but it does take a little finesse, Rich says. While public officials may appreciate a little extra money now and then, they are highly insulted if you just offer it to them up
front. With a little help from their translator, Lyuba, the Fillmons compensated the judge and got a 4 p.m. appointment the following day. When Artur’s adoption was finally approved at 5:30, they knew they were coming down the home stretch.
Thanks to the delays as the trip began, it was time for Rich, Dallas, Lydia and Haley Fillmon to return home. Rich was expected back at work as security director for the J.C. Penney store in Governor’s Square, and the children had exhausted their leaves of absence from Gilchrist Elementary and Raa Middle School.
Artur Meets Arthur
“Before we left, Teresa was sorting through a suitcase of clothes we had brought with us for the child we’d adopt,” Rich says. “All of a sudden I heard her gasp – she said something like, ‘Oh, my goodness!’” While sorting out the clothing she would keep for Artur, Teresa had found a T-shirt decorated with Arthur, the bespectacled aardvark familiar to so many American children through television. Ironically, the Fillmons say, Artur is Russian for Arthur.
Teresa, by now on her own, stayed in Mariupol to finish the legal work. (“I got his passport at 4:45 and had to be on the train back to Kiev at 5:55.”) When she went to pick up her son for the trip home, she worried how well he would make the transition. Would he miss his schoolmates? Would he cry after being separated from his caregivers?
“When Teresa arrived at the orphanage to pick him up,” Rich says, “she was worried that he might cry or want to stay with his classmates. Instead, she told me, he put his hand firmly in hers and never even looked back.” He remained cheerful even during the long train ride back to Kiev and the ensuing trip through Poland (where Teresa had to pick up Artur’s visa) and on to Atlanta and Tallahassee.
Today, the Fillmon family is settling in. A sunny child, Artur is learning English and, for the time being, he communicates well either in Russian or with a wide smile and lots of hugs. Based on their experience, Rich and Teresa say it’s possible to adopt a child from outside the United States without an attorney’s assistance, and they plan to share their knowledge with others interested in international adoption. “We know that you can do it yourself,” Teresa says, “for relatively little money.”
Remember, they say, “The key is to get those children out of there.”
Postscript:
The Fillmons returned in December of 2002, returning in January 2003 with their daughter Alla.
