Zach Is Making a New Film and Needs Your Help!

[Zach]

Dear Friends,

As some of you know, a few years ago I underwent multiple surgeries following an emergency that left me somewhat weak and unable to work.
A number of you reached out to help me.  Thank you!  Now I'm back in shape and ready to start working again.

I'm really excited about my new documentary project.

It's entitled, Unconditional Love, and tells the compelling stories of five teens from foster care and how they were matched with the loving families who adopted them.  The 60-minute national public television film also highlights organizations around the U.S. with successful strategies in finding adoptive parents for foster care youth.  Clarence Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Chicago Tribune serves as the reporter and writer for the film. 

This will be my 9th national public television film with Clarence.  And the 12th independent film that I'm directing/producing since I began hemodialysis treatments in 1982.

I Need Your Help in raising the initial funds to begin filming this important documentary.  Please go to my Indiegogo crowdfunding site and make a tax-deductible contribution.  Whatever donation you can afford —$5 or $10 or $25— is very much appreciated.  And there is a selection of perks for those who donate.

The link to my film’s Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign site is:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/unconditional-love--2

Thank you for making this crowdfunding campaign and the film a big success.
And help open a door for teens in foster care!

--Zach

[Rerun]

So glad you are feeling well enough to be your wonderful creative self and back to work.  Best of luck with this film.

     

[kristina]

Hello Zach,
Like Rerun I am also very glad and happy that you are back "in shape"
and I send you my kind regards and wish you good luck with this new project.

All the best wishes from Kristina.

[okarol]

  Yay Zach! sounds like a great project and I wish you all the best! I will share on my facebook and twitter, too.
Very happy you're doing better.  My donation is on it's way! 

[MooseMom]

Oh wow, you're working with Clarence Page??!!  That's so cool!

I'm so pleased you are doing better and are back to make movies that make us think.  I am happy to support this project.

Best of luck, and please keep us posted on your progress.

My good wishes go out to the kids who are the subjects of your film and to all other youngsters who need a family.

[PrimeTimer]

Congrats, Zach! How awe-inspiring! Must feel pretty great to be making such a film and telling these kids story. My husband was adopted so this hits close to home.

[Zach]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and your donations!

There are more than 100,000 children in foster care waiting for a permanent, loving family to adopt them.  The longer these children wait, the less likely they are at finding a “forever family.”

Teens in foster care are the hardest to be placed for adoption and risk joining the 23,000 other youth per year who age-out of the system and face multiple negative outcomes such as homelessness, crime, drugs or pregnancy.  These grim statistics point to an urgency in foster care adoption.  No matter the age, every child deserves a family.

That's why this story needs to be told.
 
And I hope my IHD family will feel the same way and join the crowdfunding of this film.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/unconditional-love--2

Every dollar is important -- and it gets us closer to the goal.
We can make a difference!

Thanks so much for your help!

[MooseMom]

Zach, will your film address the issue of placing disabled teens in foster care and the hope of finding THEM an adoptive family?  If not, perhaps that's an idea for "Unconditional Love 2". 

[iolaire]

Thanks I missed this, I joined you, I like the "tax-deductible" part.

[MooseMom]

Thanks I missed this, I joined you, I like the "tax-deductible" part.

 

[Zach]

Thanks I missed this, I joined you, I like the "tax-deductible" part.

Thank you, iolaire, for your support!
 

[Zach]

Zach, will your film address the issue of placing disabled teens in foster care and the hope of finding THEM an adoptive family?  If not, perhaps that's an idea for "Unconditional Love 2". 

We are, in fact, looking at a family who adopted a foster teen with a disability.
The parents are weighing their concern between privacy and the need for advocacy.
Time will tell.

[MooseMom]

Thanks for that, Zach.

[PrimeTimer]

In addition to the indiegogo site, for those wanting to send a check via snail mail, please PM Zach for a mailing address. 

[MooseMom]

Thanks for asking about snail mail, Prime Timer!

[Zach]

Thank you everyone who has made a contribution!

The Indiegogo campaign will close on June 5th.
For those who are still thinking about it, whatever donation amount is right for you —$5 or $10 or $25— is very much appreciated!
Every dollar counts.

Again, thank you so much!

Sincerely,
--Zach

[MuddyGurl]

HI Zach..as a child adopted from a state orphanage at the age of 4, saved from a ghetto life and incipient rickets, I fully understand the need to get older kids a home.

we aren't cute anymore at 14 or even 9 with an outward attitude developed in defense of survival.

Teens are a pain in the neck, and a challenge, and may not be grateful for years.. while you dod the hard work ..I hear all the local radio ads about "A teen doesn't need a cool dad, a teen needs YOU"  to taking these teens in.

I will stop by the funder site and donate..

are you adopted or just have an interest in the topic?

thanks for all you do!

[Zach]

Thank you, MuddyGurl, for your donation!

I wasn't adopted, but this is one of those issues that caught my attention and I thought I'd like to know more.
So I began researching the topic back in 2008 (maybe even earlier).
Clarence Page, the reporter for this film, was adopted at birth, so he does bring his own perspective to the film.


In many case, when folks think about adoption, they think of babies, not teenagers.
You get it, as you wrote in your post:

we aren't cute anymore at 14 or even 9 with an outward attitude developed in defense of survival.
Teens are a pain in the neck, and a challenge, and may not be grateful for years..

One of the things I love about my work is the ability to tell these kind of stories, and also show what works in the field, and why.
Unfortunately, it's the fundraising that slows me down.

It is you and the others here at IHD who have helped in this endeavor, that I say, THANK YOU!

Regards,
--Zach
PS:  The Indiegogo campaign ends on June 5th … Just 21 days to go.

[MuddyGurl]

Zach…you are most welcome..I think ( and have written about ) my life If  I had stayed in that ghetto, 4th floor walk up with a bathroom one floor down, phone in the hallway, poverty and ignorance all around me.  I am glad I never became a teen who though her only choice was a baby daddy living elsewhere and state aid, never finishing high school. It could easily have happened.   As they say if your think education is expensive, try ignorance.

A kind Polish immigrant woman wanted to raise two little girls after raising two boisterous sons during WWII…. so she actually came and rescued us from a gulag state orphanage…she could have picked any other two sisters, we were 4 and 2.   I bless her she never chose just one of us…which could have happened in the 50's.

I had a healthy life with her, living in the country, cows, goats, chickens, cherry trees, she was a mom who sewed us matching mother-daughter dresses, and made amazing huge chocolate  fudge Easter eggs, hidden in the flowers…she was a whacky lady in her own right, and encouraged me to rise above my humble beginnings into the big wide world.

So I have had a most excellent life and I only hope other children can find the same with the generosity of couples willing to take them on.

PS: PLUS I am feeling, as my mom used to say "flush' with generosity  I just learned I raised my eGFR 3 points, lowered Creatinine 2 pts  over the last 30 days with a concerted effort of my own, but am not taking the full credit,  I just used the brains God gave me to make nutrition decisions.…..so I wanted to share my good fortune with a donation! win win

[PrimeTimer]

18 days left to go!    Please see Zach's  link at the top of the thread to donate!

[Zach]

What a wonderful story about your adopted Mother, MuddyGurl.
Thank you for sharing it.

My Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign ends on June 5th, so there's not much time to go.
Whatever you can afford to donate —$1, $5, or $10— is important and very much appreciated!

Here's the link:
http://igg.me/at/UnconditionalLove/x

And another big thank you for those IHD members who have already made a contribution:

Bill Peckham
Rerun
Okarol
MooseMom
iolaire
PrimeTimer
MuddyGurl

 

[okarol]

  Glad to help Zach! I will keep spreading the word!

[Zach]

And for those who prefer to use PayPal for their donations, please PM me for the link.

Just 8 days to go.

Remember, Every. Donation. Counts!
Thanks.
 

[Zach]

Many companies sponsor matching gift programs. The matches are usually dollar-for-dollar, but some firms do even more. When you make a contribution to this campaign, please check with your HR department to see if your company matches employee gifts.

Thanks,
--Zach
http://igg.me/at/UnconditionalLove/x/10318656