Buckner Requests Help from Churches

By Analiz G. Schremmer

DALLAS – Shoes for Orphan Souls is in urgent need of new shoe donations after sending thousands of shoes to Haiti, said director Rachel Garton.

“The need in Haiti has been so great that people have focused their attention on giving there. We have sent out a lot of shoes there, which means we are short on our supply for shoes scheduled to go other places.”

Garton said more than 50,000 pairs of shoes have been shipped to Romania, Sierra Leon, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Haiti this year, “but the new requests for shoes this year are four times what we have shipped in the past.”

A large number of shoes come from individual donors, Garton said, but she would like to encourage more churches to consider participating with Buckner and Shoes for Orphan Souls in a more holistic manner. “There is a great need for shoe drive coordinators, warehouse volunteers and mission trip participants,” she said.

The Crossing Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas is one of several churches who have participated in the entire Shoes for Orphan Souls process. Every year they host a shoe drive, volunteer at the warehouse and go on a mission trip to the Rio Grande Valley.

“The neat thing about congregations like The Crossing is that they get to take ownership of the work because they see it to completion. They give shoes; they collect shoes from others. They go to the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid to sort and pack shoes and finally, they go on a mission trip to put shoes on the feet of children who need them.

“Going through the entire process gives people the opportunity to see the fruit of their labor, which is why we’d love to see lots of other congregations follow in their footsteps. It puts passion and heart behind every service step.”

To learn how to get your church involved in participating with Shoes for Orphan Souls, please call 1-866-774-SHOE (7463) or visit www.ShoesforOrphanSouls.org.