Shawn Doerr and his wife April plan on travelling to the country in March to adopt 18-month-old Liu Runhan. With an expected total cost of $30,000, they’re holding a fundraiser at the Jacksonville American Legion tonight at 903 West Superior.

Shawn Doerr says Liu was found abandoned as a newborn in a city northwest of Hong Kong.

“She was abandoned on a road in Liuzho City, and she was about five-and-a-half pounds when she was found, so they’re estimating her birthday to be the day before she was found,” he says. “And she was taken to the orphanage immediately.”

Expenses include traveling to China, lodging, the orphanage fees and paperwork costs. Doerr says they’ve been working with an adoption agency out of Delaware.

“Once we started our paperwork, they had sent us her file with all of her medical history and all of her details, and we just immediately fell in love when we saw her pictures,” says Doerr.

“We feel like we’re supposed to be doing this. It’s just been a blessing to us from the get-go. We’ve had an awesome adoption agency and we’ve got an awesome network of family and friends around town here that have just been great.”

Shawn and April Doerr plan on changing the child’s name to Madilynn Liu Doerr. Shawn works as a realtor, while April is a stay-at-home mom with their two boys, 10-year-old Logan and eight-year-old Braden.

A catered meal is at the Legion building tonight from 5 to 6:00. There’s a live auction and Chinese auction opened to the public starting at 7 p.m.