North Texas grandma raises enough money—and then some—to adopt her orphaned grandson

CBS DFW

A fundraiser for Hunter Keipper has raised much more than its intended goal—allowing Keipper’s grandma to adopt him as her own.

There have been many tragedies in Hunter Keipper’s short life, but the 11-year-old orphan finally has a happy tale to tell.

Thanks to the kindness of more than 100 strangers, Keipper will be able to stay with his grandma, Dianna Foster.

The 63-year-old grandma was struggling to take care of her grandson on a fixed income. She wanted to adopt Keipper so that he could receive her social security benefits. But donors continued to offer support after she hit her goal of $ 3,000—raising more than $ 9,700 for the North Texas family.

RELATED: WOMAN SEEKS DAUGHTER GIVEN UP FOR ADOPTION

“It’s a humbling experience,” Foster told CBSDFW, “to take money from other people and for them to give it.”

giveforward.com

The donations continued to pour in, long after the campaign reached its goal.

Foster shares a one-bedroom apartment with her grandson, who has bunked up in the living room of the house. Even though there’s not a lot of space, Keipper makes sure to keep a big wooden box filled with memories of his parents.

In it, he’s stuffed it with an old baseball hat that his dad always wore. Ronnie Keipper died of an asthma attack when Keipper was just five years old.

RELATED: GIRL FORCED TO DIG OWN GRAVE BY ADOPTIVE MOTHER

“I know he really loved me,” he said.

Just one year later, when Keipper was six, his mom Karlissa was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

CBS DFW

At 63, Dianna Foster found herself raising a child once again. She is fully responsible for her 11-year-old grandson.

“She always told me she was gonna win it,” he said. “She just didn’t want to give up.”

RELATED: ORPHANED RUSSIAN ABANDONED BY ADOPTIVE PARENTS

But the mother died when Keipper was nine years old.

“It wasn’t a great day,” he said, simply. “I’ve had better ones.”

So Keipper moved in with his grandma. Since most of Foster’s savings went toward covering her daughter’s cancer treatments, she said that she didn’t have much to help her raise Keipper.

CBS DFW

Hunter Keipper lost his dad when he was five and his mom when he was nine.

RELATED: ‘BABY VERONICA’ HANDED OVER TO ADOPTIVE PARENTS AFTER CUSTODY BATTLE WITH CHEROKEE FATHER

More than 1 million American grandparents have taken on full responsibility for raising their grandchildren. In these “grandfamilies,” both parents are absent and the grandparent is the householder. But these grandparents often feel isolated and face a great deal of stress, according to AARP.

“He deserves a lot more than I can give him,” Foster said.

Thanks to the GiveForward fundraiser, adoption is finally an option for Foster and her grandson.

“But I’d still call her grandma, though,” the boy said.

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