We had a very positive experience with the hosting program provided by Loving Stork Charities. To begin, one evening I came across a photograph of an adorable little girl from Ukraine and upon further inquiry, we learned that this little girl was available for Summer Hosting and that a family was needed to host her.

We sent an e-mail right away to ask if we could be the host family, and within a few days we learned that we were one of four families interested in hosting this particular adorable

girl. So, this is where we owe an extra debt of gratitude to Nana, because she tickled us to the point of almost not being able to sleep when a late night e-mail came saying she would assign Alina to us!

     Within about a month, nine year old Alina arrived, and from the day we picked her up at the airport to the day we said goodbye, we thoroughly enjoyed our time with her. Of course, we wanted to adopt Alina from the day we first learned about her, but for those who are not so sure about whether adopting an older child is right for them, hosting definitely gives you the opportunity to get to know a child before you make the decision.

Alina is a very sweet girl, and seemed to do very well in her new environment even though everything was all so new and different. We have other children, most all of whom are younger than Alina, and she was always kind to them.

Never once did I observe any aggression. She loved everyone in our family, especially David our 18 month old, and we just began to bond so well. She blessed my heart as she would want to hold my hand as we went shopping, and would sometimes shyly hide behind us when we tried to introduce her to others.

She was so tickled when we celebrated her ninth birthday, even though she had already turned nine a month before. She enjoyed all the fun things we did as a family, and swimming in our swimming pool had to be about the biggest hit!

    Loving Stork is the best! If ever there is the need to communicate something to your hosted child that the language barrier prohibits, Nana is there round the clock to help, and to talk to your child. She simply is fantastic, and you will know what we mean should you choose to host a child with Loving Stork.

     To sum up our hosting experience, let me put it this way....I love it and I hate it!  Love it because it enabled us to have wonderful weeks with Alina and sealed in our hearts and minds that we indeed want to adopt her, but on the other hand, hate it, because it was SOOO hard to say goodbye. After having a month to dote on our little angel from Ukraine,

treating her with all the love and attention such a little child deserves, to then take her back to the airport and leave her to go back to a world so far away - out of our home - out of our loving care....out of our reach...it honestly was a grieving process for us and one that would last for many days. We're slowly getting over it, and we hope to have her back in our lives forever through adoption. Not every child will react as our precious Alina. Some are not so sad to go back....for Alina it was pretty hard.....

I only pray she holds on to the hope that someday her Daddy & Mommy will return and take her home where we will never send her away again!

God bless

Barth Family

We have been in the Ukraine adoption process for two and a half years and unfortunately got caught in the shutdown. We would frequently check "Precious in His Sight," an Internet photo-listing featuring many children available for adoption. This is where we saw Ruslan, a seven year old, looking for a host family. Hosting is something we had never thought about before, and we found Ruslan's smile  so appealing.  We contacted Loving Stork, the agency in charge, and found Nana to be very prompt, helpful, and informative. The necessary arrangements were made and a month later we met him at the JFK airport in NYC. What a trusting little boy he was! At first he was rather quiet, seemingly trying to absorb all the new surroundings.

          It was not long until he got into the family atmosphere, with our 5 children, ages 6-15. Ruslan enjoyed our 11 year-old son, Daniel, so much and their games of soccer. What fun Daniel had trying to teach him softball! Ruslan, with all his ambitious energy, wanted to try everything; harvesting vegetables from the garden to cleaning the barn. He enjoyed the peaches and apples from our orchard. He loved the spacious yard and the long, paved driveway. He and our youngest daughter both spent hours on their bicycles with training wheels. By the end of Ruslan's stay here, he was riding without training wheels! How proud he was!

          As a family we spent a day at the Philadelphia Zoo and once a week we went swimming. In church on Sundays, he was very well-behaved and loved the accapella singing. We were so impressed with how happy, cheerful, and respectful he was.

          Some of his favorites were Sandy, our golden retriever dog, riding Patches (our miniature horse) and playing with her baby, Patsy! He put his all into each day, working hard, playing hard, and sleeping all night. He was  a wonderful fit into our family and it was such a good experience- much more than we expected. We would love to have him a part of our family. We believe that this hosting program is  a great way for the older child to find his forever family. We thank Loving Stork for all their efforts in this worthy cause.

The Kauffman family from PA

Our summer hosting experience was one of those things that are hard to put your feeling into words. I think it is wonderful that we were able to meet these children. We hosted a 11 year old girl. What a sweet girl. She learned so much English while she was her for the 5 weeks. I wish we could of kept her here. It was hard to see her go. We spent most of the summer hanging around the house. Swimming and then trying a few new things. We took her to Marine World, she loves Dolphins and we wanted her to see them up close. You can pet them there. We took her to the Jelly Belly Factory, Lindsay Wildlife Museum and parks. We made Bears at Build A Bear Workshop. We took her camping. I think this was her most favorite thing to do. We swam, which she is a fish. She went on the boat and went tubing.The look on her face was priceless. What a way to show a child a great American time. We would host again in a heartbeat. It is hard to send them back home. She will forever be a part of our family.