Story highlights JiaJia was abandoned by his family in China when he was a baby

A family in Grain Valley, Missouri, is trying to adopt him

"We can love him. He can love us," says the father of that family

(CNN) By the end of the year, JiaJia may have a new home halfway across the world.

Jeri and Brian Wilson, from Grain Valley, Missouri, needed to raise around $30,000 to adopt the child, a smiley 9-year-old boy who was abandoned by his family in China when he was a baby. CNN profiled his story this week.

"We hit our goal within eight hours. It was amazing," said Brian Wilson.

His wife said they were hoping to travel to China to pick up JiaJia (pronounced "Jah Jah") by the end of this year.

Photos: China's abandoned children Photos: China's abandoned children The number of children abandoned by their parents in China is on the decline. But one group says the number of disabled orphans -- like Meng Song, born last year -- is on the rise. Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: China's abandoned children JiaJia, 9, is paralyzed from the chest down. He is the oldest child in Alenah's Home, a medical foster home Beijing that currently cares for 23 children with disabilities. Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: China's abandoned children Da Long, another child at the home, was born in 2010 and is deaf and mute. Dozens of new cases of abandoned children are reported every day in China. Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: China's abandoned children Hai Cong came from China's southern region of Guangxi province. He was born with a mental disability. Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: China's abandoned children Hui Hui, born in 2009, used to have difficulty eating and was extremely skinny. Today nearly all of China's unwanted children have disabilities. Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: China's abandoned children Le Le was born with congenital heart diseases and abandoned in a temple. Despite rapid economic growth, welfare experts say the world's second largest economy lacks an adequate social safety net, which leads to more orphans. Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: China's abandoned children Yi Tan was born in 2012 with congenital heart diseases and Down's syndrome. China says there are roughly 600,000 orphans nationwide. Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: China's abandoned children Guang Quan is another resident of Alenah's Home. Christina Weaver, a Canadian missionary who works at the home, says of the children: "They all deserve love. They don't deserve this kind of life." Hide Caption 8 of 8

"He really touched a special place in our heart," said Brian. "As soon as we met him, there was something about him that just really touched us. God told us that was our son."

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