Portia Williams | Daily Times

Missy and Joshua Exline, along with the Easter Bunny. Missy is holding a picture of the child from Haiti that they are working towards adopting.

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Portia Williams

PDT Staff Writer

The Third Annual Easter Bunny Breakfast was held Saturday at Northwest High School. Missy and Joshua Exline hosted the event as a fundraiser for the adoption of a child in Haiti.

For the last three years Missy and Joshua Exline of Lucasville have been hosting fundraisers in order to adopt a child in Haiti whom they have grown to love.

In addition to having breakfast with the Easter Bunny and a Chinese auction, a raffle for a New York City trip were made available. Games and activities were also available for children to participate in.

The Exlines said they became interested in adopting a child through some of their friends that have adopted children from China.

“We knew that we wanted to go the international route, so we did a lot of praying and talking about it, ” Missy Exline said.

She also said His Home is the orphanage agency they have been working with, and feel comfortable with it because it is based in Ohio.

“April will be three years since we have actually started the process of having the Easter Bunny Breakfasts to help raise funds for travel and adoption expenses for a little boy that we love in Haiti,” Missy Exline said.

Missy said they have received an incredible amount of support from the local community.

“It just keeps getting bigger and bigger each year, ” she said. “Adoption can be very expensive, especially on the international level.”

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.

“We are on the home stretch of things, the last few months. We felt great about doing this because he such a good kid,” Joshua Exline said.

The Exlines are hopeful that the adoption will become official their next trip to Haiti and will be able to bring Simeon back with them.

To find out more about the Exline’s journey to adoption, visit their Facebook page under The Exline Family Haitian Adoption.

Portia Williams may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 286 or portiawilliams@civitasmedia.com.