How Tristin Jacobson, a 9 year old Missouri boy came to be inundated with well wishers who’ve now helped him realize his goal of being legally adopted.
Tristin Jacobson a nine year old Springfield, Missouri boy has raised (at time of press) just on $17 000 selling homemade lemonade in a bid to fund his own adoption.
The fund drive comes after Tristin Jacobson was left on the the stoop of a homeless shelter at the height of winter four years ago by his mother who was battling drug addiction and worked as a prostitute.
A year later, he was taken in by family friend Donnie Davis and her husband Jimmy, where he has stayed ever since as his foster mom.
Yet there’s a catch. In order to legally adopt Tristin, the family had to come up with an estimated $5000 in legal fees. A tall order for Donnie and Jimmy.
Determined, Tristin Jacobson set up his lemonade stand come Friday afternoon where he offered ice cold glasses of lemonade for $1 each.
By Saturday afternoon, neighbors and passers-by had donated a whopping $14,000 to his adoption fund after the boy’s story got picked up by the Springfield News Leader. More than half of that – $7,100 – having been raised by Tristan’s lemonade stand.
Tristin’s parents-to-be said anything exceeding the necessary legal fees will go towards his education.
‘There’s not enough words to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who has shown support or given us donations,’ Davis told the Springfield News-Leader.
‘Everyone has made this possible. We will make sure this child will forever be ours.’
Donnie Davis said he’d known Tristan all his life, and regularly babysat for his mother. She said she had been concerned for his well-being for years before being abandoned.
‘Shortly before he turned 4, I could notice a huge difference in his physical appearance, clothes being dirty and not fitting and in her activity in both of her boys life,’ she explained on their YouGiving page.
‘For the next year, it got worse and worse.’
‘Long story short, we found out that she had been doing drugs and had been prostituting to get money for drugs.
‘Tristan was subjected to all of this. He was in the same room as her when the Methamphetamine, she would take him with her when she would meet men for sex, she would allow her multiple boyfriends to beat on him, she would leave him alone in her apartment, he was always in his little brothers clothes, they hadn’t been washed, he witnessed sexual acts between her and other woman [sic] and men.
‘He was locked in a dark room at night and had to listen to her being beat by the multiple boyfriends. This is just a small listing of all of the abuse that he went thru [sic].’
For those of you looking to help Tristin fulfill his ambition and assist in Donnie and Jimmy’s desire to call the 9 year old boy their legal son, all donations can be made here; YouCaring.com called Tristan’s Adoption Fund.
Despite contacting Child Protection Services, Donnie was told there was nothing that could be done. Eventually, police contacted Davis on January 12, 2012, to say Tristan had been found on the doorstep of a children’s homeless shelter in 17-degree cold.
It’s then when Donnie Davis agreed to take Tristin Jacobson in.
Now, after a turbulent few years including treating Tristan for an un-diagnosed ringworm on his head, and getting him circumcised, Davis said their family is strong and stable.
And Tristan now wants to make the adoption official.
Told Donnie: ‘It means everything. He is absolutely our son. He is in our hearts.
‘This is more for reassurance for him, knowing that he has his forever family and he has our name.’
Tristan, a top-grade student at Williams Elementary School, has since told of his excitement of his adoption being made official.
Told the youth via KY-3: ‘I know she’s responsible taking care of me, and I know she’s going to be a great mother.’
