Bring Walter Home - Scholarship Fund for Adoptees
Donation protected
Hi, my names is Christopher Poirier, I am a proud Korean Adoptee, and Walter Poirier is my brother, and the ONLY Peace Corps volunteer to ever be reported missing but never found, and I am raising funds to be put towards a scholarship, in his name, for adoptees in financial need seeking higher education.
(That's me holding up the picture explained below as well as the last written article about him. I was only a kid back then, but now as an adult I'm determined to do right by him.
His Story:
In January 2001, my brother Walter Jonathan Poirier was on mission in Bolivia as part of his Peace Corps Volunteer work, when he vanished, and went missing, never to be found again.
He is the ONLY Peace Corps Volunteer, of the now 306 volunteers to ever be reported missing or dead to NEVER be reported found.
(This is the last photo ever taken of Walter before he we was reported missing by my mother)
I think of my brother daily, and often frequent the website started to honor his name and re-read stories about him from friends to keep his memory always fresh in my mind as I spent very little time with him. He was off to college when I was 6 years old and left for the Peace Corps upon graduating from Notre Dame.
I have watched year-by-year pass by, heard my parents crying through their bedroom doors, and have seen them emotionally broken to the point where sometimes they can’t even say his name out loud.
Well, now I am no longer just the “little brother”. Now, I am in a position where it’s my turn to not just fully inherit my family’s pain, but make sure my brother Walter’s name will live on for the world to know and give my parents as much closure as possible.
Over the past several years, I've been hard at work in becoming a voice within the adoption community.
My brother was always about making a difference, through his actions, in the spirit of helping those in need. It’s not so much that I know this, but I’m always told about the difference he made in people’s lives when I meet so many residents in the community I grew up in.
So, with this, every single student to ever receive this scholarship will not just get to know me, but his story will be able to be told, and his spirit will be passed on, through me, to other adoptees in search for higher learning, just like he used to always search for knowledge.
How You Can Help:
The first scholarship will be given out this coming May 2019.
Our goal as a family is to raise at least $30,000 for this endowment scholarship to start.
With your help, any donation given will be completely accepted with more gratitude than words can explain.
My Personal Pledge:
MY personal goal is to do everything in my power, for as long as I live, to grow this scholarship to be the biggest fund like this for adoptees that exists. This is why I not only will start off with donating $1,000 myself, I’ll match that again when this hits $19,000, and I pledge to donate annually to this fund myself after this to make sure it continues to grow regardless.
This is only the beginning for how I am committed to growing this.
Closing Remarks:
With this, every single student to ever receive this scholarship will not just get to know me, but my brothers story will be able to be told, and his spirit will be passed on, through me, to other adoptees in search for higher learning, just like he used to always search for knowledge.
I don’t have kids yet, so I can’t fully empathize and understand the love of a parent to their child. But I’ve witnessed it firsthand and I know many out there do as well. This fund will help build some sense of closure within my parents and allow this adoptee to be the person my brother Walter was for so many others in need.
This will be the closest we as a family come to "Bring Walter Home".
Thank you so much for reading this far and considering to donate! Please if share this across social media to help me get the word out.
Contact me @ChrisPoirierKim on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more answers on how you can help me spread the word.
(That's me holding up the picture explained below as well as the last written article about him. I was only a kid back then, but now as an adult I'm determined to do right by him.His Story:
In January 2001, my brother Walter Jonathan Poirier was on mission in Bolivia as part of his Peace Corps Volunteer work, when he vanished, and went missing, never to be found again.
He is the ONLY Peace Corps Volunteer, of the now 306 volunteers to ever be reported missing or dead to NEVER be reported found.
(This is the last photo ever taken of Walter before he we was reported missing by my mother)I think of my brother daily, and often frequent the website started to honor his name and re-read stories about him from friends to keep his memory always fresh in my mind as I spent very little time with him. He was off to college when I was 6 years old and left for the Peace Corps upon graduating from Notre Dame.
I have watched year-by-year pass by, heard my parents crying through their bedroom doors, and have seen them emotionally broken to the point where sometimes they can’t even say his name out loud.
Well, now I am no longer just the “little brother”. Now, I am in a position where it’s my turn to not just fully inherit my family’s pain, but make sure my brother Walter’s name will live on for the world to know and give my parents as much closure as possible.
Over the past several years, I've been hard at work in becoming a voice within the adoption community.
My brother was always about making a difference, through his actions, in the spirit of helping those in need. It’s not so much that I know this, but I’m always told about the difference he made in people’s lives when I meet so many residents in the community I grew up in.
So, with this, every single student to ever receive this scholarship will not just get to know me, but his story will be able to be told, and his spirit will be passed on, through me, to other adoptees in search for higher learning, just like he used to always search for knowledge.
How You Can Help:
The first scholarship will be given out this coming May 2019.
Our goal as a family is to raise at least $30,000 for this endowment scholarship to start.
With your help, any donation given will be completely accepted with more gratitude than words can explain.
My Personal Pledge:
MY personal goal is to do everything in my power, for as long as I live, to grow this scholarship to be the biggest fund like this for adoptees that exists. This is why I not only will start off with donating $1,000 myself, I’ll match that again when this hits $19,000, and I pledge to donate annually to this fund myself after this to make sure it continues to grow regardless.
This is only the beginning for how I am committed to growing this.
Closing Remarks:
With this, every single student to ever receive this scholarship will not just get to know me, but my brothers story will be able to be told, and his spirit will be passed on, through me, to other adoptees in search for higher learning, just like he used to always search for knowledge.
I don’t have kids yet, so I can’t fully empathize and understand the love of a parent to their child. But I’ve witnessed it firsthand and I know many out there do as well. This fund will help build some sense of closure within my parents and allow this adoptee to be the person my brother Walter was for so many others in need.
This will be the closest we as a family come to "Bring Walter Home".
Thank you so much for reading this far and considering to donate! Please if share this across social media to help me get the word out.
Contact me @ChrisPoirierKim on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more answers on how you can help me spread the word.
Organizer
Christopher Poirier
Organizer
Lowell, MA