By Joni Naylor, Beck’s Hybrid

When Nate and Shannon Anderson of Rankin, Illinois, married in 2000, they had hopes to become parents in the near future.  Unfortunately, they had no luck after trying for eight years to have children.  That’s when they made a decision that changed their lives. The Andersons made the decision to adopt a child from The Baby Fold, and their lives have never been the same.

“I never realized when we were adopting how close I would be with my son,” said Nate Anderson. “There’s no better feeling than when I get a call in the field and hear him say, ‘Dadda … home.’”

The Baby Fold was founded in 1902 and currently has four locations in Normal, Illinois. The organization embodies Christian principles to help families and children develop the hope, courage and love they need to become whole and healthy. When the Andersons got the call from The Baby Fold that they could pick up their son, there was a wave of excitement that swept over the family. The call aslo resulted in a detour from the Andersons’ return trip after a tractor pull.

Nate, Ryan and Todd Anderson, along with their mechanic and friend Chuck DeMoss, have been members of the Illiana Pullers Association, IPA, for nearly four years. The team pulls and International 1066 tractor called Checkin’ Out.

“We were on our way home from a pull the day we got the call to pick up our son,” said Nate. “Getting that call was better than any adrenaline rush from pulling!”

The coincidence of adopting their son on the same day they were at a tractor pull is a memory that stuck with the Andersons. The events of that special day are what led Nate to introduce an idea to the IPA nearly two years later. At the annual IPA banquet, Nate approached the officers with an idea for a charity tractor pull to benefit The Baby Fold.

“I really didn’t think that anyone would take me seriously when I suggested the charity pull, but everyone was surprisingly receptive,” said Anderson.

Illiana Tractor Pullers Association President, Andy Buhr, has all the experience needed to plan and execute a tractor pull. His efforts, along with the help of many others including Bill Clayton, Airport Manager of the Rantoul National Aviation Center, have made the Andersons’ wish to give back to The Baby Fold a possibility.

The Pulling for Kids charity tractor pull will be help at the Rantoul National Aviation Center on Saturday, August 28, 2010, at 5 p.m. The tractor pull will feature food and refreshments provided by the Gifford Lions Club.  The Andersons have been Beck’s Hybrids customers for several years, and approached their dealer Jeff Heidrick and Beck’s District Sales Manager Joe McElhoe about sponsoring the Pulling for Kids event. Beck’s Hybrids has signed on to be the title sponsor for the tractor pull.

“This is an opportunity to support not only our customers, but also the kids that need help,” said Scott Beck, Beck’s Hybrids Vice President. “We try to recognize those customers who do more for the community outside their farming operations.”

Adoption is not a word that is new to the Beck family or many of their employees. Many have opened their hearts and homes to children in need. “Sponsoring this charity event took on a more personal effect, knowing first-hand the need of children all over the world,” said Beck.

“I was truly surprised that Beck’s had stepped up in such a major way, but I realized how special it was when I heard that Scott and his wife had adopted,” said Anderson.

Every year The Baby Fold has a major fundraising event, but this year the land where the event was typically held was sold. The event typically provided funding to help not only with daily operations, but also to provide Christmas presents and toys for the children. The Anderson family saw a need to help support the agency.

“These kids need someone to be in their corner,” said Nate. “If I can help put food on the table for the children, it’s a pretty special thing.”

In light of current adoption trends, community needs and state funding setbacks, The Baby Fold is moving its adoption focus away from domestic infants and exclusively toward international, residential, and foster care adoptions.

For 108 years The Baby Fold has strived to provide permanent homes for the most vulnerable children in the agency’s care. In 1902, this was orphaned or abandoned infants. Today, there are many families waiting for domestic infant adoption and the percentage of young or single mothers placing their children for adoption has decreased, both locally and nationally.

Meanwhile, the children in greatest need of permanent homes are 1) those living in residential care and foster homes whose families are no longer able to care for them and 2) orphans in foreign countries.

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The Baby Fold has received a grant from the Paul A. Funk Foundation in the amount of $6,000 to underwrite the adoption services they offer. The grant supports several Baby Fold programs including Infant, Special Needs and International Adoption. Other services supported by the grant are 24-hour crisis counseling, in-home consultations, individual and family counseling, support groups for adoptive parents, children and teenagers, a resource library for families and professionals as well as respite and referral services.

This grant is a welcome relief to adoptive families at The Baby Fold in light of current cutbacks in state funding of these programs.  With the reduction in government support, private funding becomes more and more important to guarantee that families in our area have the resources they need to become whole and healthy.

To find out how you can support adoption in Central Illinois, contact The Baby Fold at (309) 451-7202.

This letter was written from a concerned client of The Baby Fold:

“My husband and I are adoptive parents to six kids, five of which have special needs. We have a horrible time getting services for these kids on a good day but it is getting worse..

We have two mentally ill kids that receive services from adoption preservation through DCFS. I was notified this morning by my Adoption Preservation worker that their program at the Baby Fold has been cut and that they are closing all their cases in the next two weeks and will then be unemployed. Without these services, I don’t know that my family can remain safe and intact. I know that there are many more families just like mine. It is going to cost the state a lot more money to put these kids in mental health facilities than it is to keep them in a loving family setting with support services. The state has to stop the major cuts to social services, they need to see that they are not helping the budget, but are creating bigger problems.

Please take time today to call your representatives and congressmen and ask them to help stop these cuts. I have already started calling in my district and now on to other districts!”