Phase 5-- Monday, January 28 (updated 2pm)

HOW TO HELP SUNDI AND DAMON

Note: re the Thursday deadline for these letters. If we get a scanned PDF by Thursday, we can file it in court on Friday as long as we know that the original is on the way.

1. Call, email, OR fax the White House. Fax might be the most effective option, if you have access to one. Faxes are more difficult to ignore :-) PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO SAY THANK YOU!!!
   

FAX
202-456-2461

EMAIL

first.lady@whitehouse.gov Just added-- Laura Bush!!!
AND
comments@whitehouse.gov
AND
vice_president@whitehouse.gov

CALL
* Switchboard, 202-456-1414
* Comment line, 202-456-1111

If you are in the area and want to stop by, the Visitor’s Office number is 202-456-2121. But please don’t call unless you are really going to stop by.

The text below can be used for a phone call, fax, or email. Just be sure to put your name and specify whether you are writing or calling. You don’t need to speak the second and third paragraphs in your phone call, unless the person asks more questions or wants to continue the conversation. However, please include them in any emails or faxed correspondence if possible. J

TEXT FOR OUR FRIENDS' CORRESPONDENCE IS:

Subject: Smith Kenya Adoption Approval Letter
My name is ____________. I am writing/calling to respectfully request that President Bush and Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey each provide an adoption approval letter for Jeromy and Kim Smith by this Thursday. It is simply to assure the Kenyan government that the Smiths are approved to adopt by the U.S. Government. You can call them at 011-254-710-347-499 with any questions.

Due to many tragic, true stories about human trafficking, there are many false, equally tragic rumors that African children are taken to the U.S. to be killed and harvested for organs, used as slaves, or subjected to equally repulsive abuse. Understandably, many Kenyans and other Africans fear for the fate of their children when they leave for foreign soil. As far-fetched as these rumors may sound to the average America, our comparative silence on this topic leaves room for these rumors to persist unchallenged.

There is no greater sign of trust between nations that they should trust one another with their most precious resource, their children. Kenya is a great friend and ally to the United States. This crisis presents an outstanding opportunity for the U.S. Government to assure Kenya—and ultimately all Africans—that we share the same concern for the safety and well-being of these priceless treasures with which our nation has been entrusted.

We know your office is extremely busy. Many thanks for taking the time to listen to our request. Best regards.

2. If you have any personal connections that might be able to get us in contact with the US Attorney General, please use them. But at this point the AG’s office isn’t up to speed on our request, since it just came in on Friday afternoon, so the last thing we want to do is bombard different offices with phone calls.
   
   
3. If you are a constituent of Elijah Cummings, please say thanks for jumping in and helping us extensively. (email http://www.house.gov/cummings/contact.shtml, phone 202-225-4741) We are reminded of the parable of the two brothers—one said they weren’t going to do any, but later changed their mind and worked their butt off. The other brother did the opposite. The one who did the work in the end was the good guy in this story. The office of Elijah Cummings originally said that there was nothing they could do, but in the end they worked hard to help Senator Landrieu with the custom letter, and also gave us extensive legal counsel late on Friday. So, we are extremely grateful for how they came through for us in the clutch!
   
   Please continue to be brief, respectful, and grateful. We really don’t want any staffers to walk away from today feeling annoyed and fed up—we want them to be amazed at how a group of random people, all passionate about the cause of orphans, were every bit as kind as they were passionate. Then God can really have the glory when we bring our kids home. That’s what’s up!

A huge impetus behind our sense of urgency is that our government has made it clear they will not intervene if our children are taken away, out of respect for Kenya’s sovereignty. This makes total sense. Therefore, we are simply asking that we show the utmost respect to the nation of Kenya by providing them complete, undeniable assurances that their children will be well-loved and cared for in America.

We will post more background information later for those interested in passing along background details to friends, but this should be enough to get us started. Or, you can always call us at 011-254-710-347-499. Thanks for giving our family the strength and confidence to believe that the impossible is possible. Asante sana, infinity! Not sure the Kiswahili word for “infinity”, but we are incredibly thankful!