Locals shave beards as a fundraiser

Photo by: Henoc Kivuye

 

An unconventional fundraising effort had men skipping their daily shave to show their love and support for a local couple.

Director of Advancement Operations Will Blanchard and his wife Amy are in the process of expanding their family, and their friends have supported them every step of the way.

“Beard for the Blanchards was not started by me or my wife,” Will Blanchard said. “It was actually started by our good friends Jake and Becca Jones, and Kyle and Janey Frazer; they were the leaders of it all.”

The Blanchard family desperately wanted to have a child, but felt led to a less traditional way.

“We’ve been trying for several years, and we’ve just struggled,” Will Blanchard said. “Ultimately, we felt that God was pointing us towards adoption.”

The idea for the fundraiser was rooted in passing words from a Norwegian stranger.

“My friend Jake was told by a man from Norway that to be a father you need to have a beard,” Blanchard said. “He and his wife had struggled to have a baby as well, and so he grew his beard and they had a baby. It was kind of like this symbolic thing – him wanting to give us his beard.”

Junior Jessica Estrada works under Blanchard as one of the co-directors for Call Out. She learned about the family’s desire to adopt at the beginning of the semester.

“Will was really emotional when he first found out,” Estrada said. “It was really hard for him because he never wanted to go this route, but then he realized that it didn’t matter if the baby was his; he was still going to be the father of the baby hopefully whenever they adopt.”

Estrada, though loosely connected to their journey, has witnessed the difficulty that comes with adopting a child.

“I have family members who can’t conceive, and they’ve tried adopting children, but it’s such a hard and tedious process that they were unable to do it,” Estrada said. “You have to be really motivated, and you have to put a lot of effort into it.”

According to Estrada, the way the couple is striving to adopt a baby inspires her.

“It’s been really cool to see how far they’ve come,” Estrada said. “They’re just waiting and trusting God.”

Junior and co-director of Call Out Susan Diaz said it has been crazy to see how much Will and Amy are putting into preparation for their baby.

“It’s a much bigger process than I ever thought,” Diaz said. “They had to have someone come and inspect their house.”

Friend of the family and Oklahoma Christian University alumnus Jacob Richardson was one of the men who decided to grow out his beard for the “Beard for Blanchards” initiative.

“We were in class at church and [Jake Jones] was talking about how he was going to start the initiative by growing out his beard, and there was a sign up sheet for participants,” Richardson said. “My thought was ‘I’ve never grown a beard before, so I guess I’ll give it a try.’”

According to Richardson, he knew about the troubles the couple had been having.

“I just wanted to help them out in any way possible,” Richardson said. “I consider them great friends, and they’re great people. I hate to see them like this.”

The men started growing their beards in December, and continued to grow them out for three and a half months.

According to Blanchard, the costs for adoption vary depending on the route you take or the agency you use.

“There’s a lot of court fees, processing fees and things you need to pay for,” Blanchard said. “We’re working with Lilyfield Christian Adoption, and the base cost there for adoption is $18,000. The cost could go up depending on the birth mom’s medical needs; sometimes those things can be a factor.”

Blanchard explained that they stepped out on faith because they didn’t have the money; however, they felt like God was pushing them towards adoption, and God continued to answer their prayers in respect to finances.

“It’s pretty overwhelming,” Blanchard said. “You know you have good friends, and you know what we’re called to be as the church in terms of surrounding one another as a fellowship, sharing and giving. To see that many people stand up, grow beards and spread that awareness, to see the financial sacrifices people have made for us was just really powerful.”

When the Blanchards announced that they were adopting, they immediately realized they would never suffer alone.

“We’d struggled for several years trying to have a baby, and that’s one of those unique struggles that most people don’t understand, so you kind of feel like you’re suffering by yourself,” Blanchard said. “A lot of people had been actively praying for us and thinking about us and wishing good things for us.”

The family has been overwhelmed with love through financial and spiritual support. Blanchard is grateful for the faculty of Oklahoma Christian who have also donated in an effort to bring the family that much closer to adopting their baby.

“[When] the idea of us growing our family and helping a child in need at the same time came up, they were just as excited as we were and eager to be a part of that,” Blanchard said. “I’m just overwhelmed and really excited that we’re going to have a big extended family for our baby.”

Money can still be donated to the Blanchard’s cause online at beardfortheblanchards.blogspot.com.