Brittany Black

MIDLAND, Texas—Some of our country’s top Christian music artists performed at Rock the Desert music festival on Aug. 5-7 in Midland, Texas. Fans were able to enjoy great music and recreation; they also had a chance to give back.

Rock the Desert and Shoes for Orphan Souls, a ministry of Buckner International, partnered for the second year in a row to collect shoes for children in Texas and around the world. Individuals and groups planning to attend were challenged to collect new shoes before the big event and then bring them at any point during the festival.

“This is the second year for this partnership,” said Rachel Garton, director of Shoes for Orphan Souls. “It gives the people who attend Rock the Desert a chance to be part of helping kids in other countries.”

This year the total number of shoes collected was 4,002.

The groups that collected the most shoes were announced and sent home with a bronze Crocs shoe. Top collectors were: First Baptist Church Ralls, First Baptist Church Snyder and First Baptist Church Brownfield.  

More than 18,000 people attended Rock the Desert to listen to artists like Lecrea, Skillet, DecemberRadio, and the Dove Awards Group of the Year Casting Crowns.

Bassist Daniel Biro, from Hawk Nelson, said that his band was glad to participate in the concert.

“It’s a privilege to partner with great organizations who share the same faith and heart. . . . Jesus serves us first, even when we don’t deserve it. It’s about looking outside of ourselves, loving others through simple acts that make us like Christ.”

Shoes for Orphan Souls, a ministry of Buckner International, provides new shoes and socks to orphans and vulnerable children in the United States and throughout the world. From conducting shoe drives to humanitarian aid trips, Shoes for Oprhan Souls offers hands-on opportunities to individuals, groups and organizations who want to transform lives. Since 1999, more than two million pairs of new shoes and socks have been distributed to children in 69 countries.

Jenny Pope
Buckner International 

HOUSTON – The thermometer read 94 degrees Aug. 21 as volunteers at South Main Baptist Church patiently linked together a chain of shoes on the black asphalt parking lot. It took three hours to lay the shoes side by side, but in the end they celebrated their accomplishment – more than 10,068 pairs of shoes for orphans and a new Guinness World Record. 

The event, named Solechain, marked the church’s tenth year collecting shoes for Buckner International’s Shoes for Orphan Souls. 

Henry Hill, SMBC member, has organized the church's shoe drive for the past 10 years.

To honor the anniversary, shoe drive organizer and church member Henry Hill said they set the goal to collect 10,000 pairs of shoes and beat the current record for “Longest Chain of Shoes,” which stood at 19,856 individual shoes – or 9,928 pairs – stretched out more than 18,992 feet. 

“We thought it would be a goal and fun for everyone to get involved. We’ve collected over 70,000 pairs of shoes in the last ten years. That’s an amazing feat for a church to accomplish,” Hill said. 

Church members of all ages participated in the shoe drive and worked diligently in the Texas heat to place the shoes of all sizes and colors in a chain. They even voted on the message to be written inside the circle: “Send shoes. See smiles. Save souls.” 

Rachel Garton, director of Shoes for Orphan Souls, said she was in awe of the sheer number of shoes lined up outside. “It was overwhelming to see them all and to think about all the children who will be receiving them before the end of this year. We are so thankful for South Main’s continued involvement and passion for helping orphans.” 

South Main Pastor Steve Wells reminded the group about the reason for their efforts before they began placing the shoes in the chain. 

“This isn’t just about bringing publicity to Buckner or to South Main, but every pair of shoes you touch is going to an orphan child,” he said. “These shoes are part of a promise not just to clad their feet today but to bring them the hope of Jesus Christ.” 

Many South Main members have taken mission trips with Buckner to deliver shoes to orphans around the world. Gillian Cooke went on the first Buckner mission trip to Russia 10 years ago to deliver shoes to orphans and has been to Peru five times since. 

“It clicks in my mind when you see the looks on their faces,” she said, recalling the feeling of putting a pair of new shoes on child’s feet. “I remember their dirty little feet, holes in their shoes, their little faces … and all of a sudden they’re jumping and laughing. It’s sounds of joy.” 

Cooke remembers what it was like during World War 2 to be without shoes, wearing rubber boots in the rain and snow, stuffing paper in the sides to keep their feet dry. 

“Seeing these shoes, it brings me back,” she said. “Without shoes you can’t go anywhere. You can put on old clothes, drag your body into something, but without shoes – life stops.” 

Jimmy Cole was taking pictures at the event, documenting the group’s efforts to build the chain. He and his wife have been involved in the shoe drive since they joined the church eight years ago. 

“I lived in an orphanage until I was 6 years old,” he said, “so this brings back a lot of memories. I think it’s awesome that we’re working together to do this for children. Our church is very community oriented.” 

To learn more about the ways your church can get involved and host a shoe drive, visit www.ShoesforOrphanSouls.org or call 1-866-774-SHOE.
To learn more about the event, visit www.SoleChain.org.

“The kids are truly excited to get a brand-new pair of shoes and especially ones that fit their feet correctly,” said Gabe n Sanda Herrera, who works with Global Connection Partnership networking with Project Restore Hope to distribute the shoes. “We took the bag of shoes to the destination and we took the time to share that God loves them and that Jesus loves them. It was really a joy to see the looks on their faces.

We also shared that many people who love God from the U.S. took time to go and pick out these shoes to show their love and then took time to organize and send them to us.

“This was a great humanitarian effort and an opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ while meeting a need at the same time,” Herrera said.

“At Masiaka there were some nursery-age kids (3-6 years old) who really got to our hearts. They were the easiest to fit and every kid had a shoe that fit them perfectly. When we were finished with everything, we noticed that they had all piled up their old shoes and saw gleaming faces as they showed their shoes to us.”

By Brittany Black
Buckner International

MESQUITE, Texas – Bridget Bennett was asked to donate five pairs of shoes for orphans as part of her service project for the ExxonMobil Community Summer Job Program, but she managed to collect 44.

“I thought, ‘Let’s get as many as possible,’” Bennett said. “I cleared out a couple of stores.”

Bennett was one of 74 college students who volunteered at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid July 15. As summer interns, the students work at non-profits in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for eight weeks. They attend three developmental seminars and do one service project.

“Each year the interns come up with a service project at a different nonprofit,” said Emily Snooks, program officer for Exxon Mobil Corporation. “This year, shoes spoke to them.”

The voice of shoes might not have been so loud if it hadn’t been for Natalie Hedge, the ExxonMobil summer intern for Buckner International.

Hedge thought it would be a good idea for the interns to host a shoe drive and then volunteer to sort them. She set the goal to collect 500 pairs of shoes, but the group exceeded expectations with 504 pairs.

Natalie Hedge, ExxonMobil intern for Buckner International, helped organize the project.

Half of the interns spent the day sorting shoes scheduled for an upcoming shipment to Guatemala while the rest painted the hallways and break room walls.

“I have been on a summer mission trip with Buckner where we distributed shoes to orphans and thought it was a great cause with a great impact,” Hedge said. “When you experience it, you have a heart for it; not for yourself, not for Buckner, but for the kids.”

To find out how you can collect shoes or volunteer at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid, call 1-866-774-SHOE(7463) or visit www.shoesfororphansouls.org.

By Analiz G. Schremmer

Montgomery, ALABAMA — More than 90 people from the One Voice Choir of First Baptist Church Montgomery herded into the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid on June 11 to sort shoes for orphans.

For the past 50 years, the First Baptist Church Montgomery high-school choir has done tours that involve singing at churches and mission-oriented concert venues in the evenings, and volunteering during the day.

“Our theme this year was “I’m adopted by the king,” said Chip Colee, the church’s minister of music. “We highlighted adoption stories in our choir where we had kids who were either themselves, had adopted sibilings, or their parents/grandparents were adopted, so it was really neat to do Shoes for Orphan Souls. It just fit so well with our theme.”

Colee said that he learned about Buckner International through a friend who had volunteered with Shoes for Orphan Souls in the past. “Buckner handled our group’s large size very well. We felt like we accomplished something helpful and exposed kids to that great ministry, great experience for us to be there and work.”

The group also posted a landing page on their Web site asking people to donate money for Shoes for Orphan Souls. They collected more than $3,000 worth of shoes and are still receiving donations.

“The kids started sending Facebook messages and e-mailing their parents,” he said. “Next thing you know, money was flying in.”

Coley shared the story of an experience that his group had with a lady working at the shoe department in Wal-Mart.

“I walked in to talk to her and said we are buying shoes for a ministry that gives shoes to orphans around the world and asked her for a discount and she almost started crying. She said just a few moments ago she had marked down shoes to $3 a pair and she said ‘I knew God had a blessing for me today.’

“The kids felt good about their whole experience at Buckner. They were glad to be a part of  helping children get shoes. It turned out to be neat thing,” he said.

Besides volunteering with Buckner, the One Voice group also worked with Mission Arlington several days and sang for churches, groups of homeless people and people who were just getting out of prison, Colee said.

Click here for more information on how your group can take a mission trip to Texas to help Buckner sort shoes in its Center for Humanitarian Aid.

Click here to see what Buckner International’s Shoes for Orphan Souls is doing in the Rio Grande Valley.

 Analiz G. Schremmer

(DALLAS)—For the tenth year in a row, the Missouri Rotary District 6040 has come through for Buckner, bringing a donation of more than 20,000 pairs of shoes—right when needed most.

“Right now our shelves are empty from having sent out 50,000 pairs of shoes to Haiti and many other countries,” said Rachel Garton, director of Buckner International’s Shoes for Orphan Souls program. “There is such a huge need.”

The Missouri Rotary donation also included 764 pairs of socks, 2,042 laces, 2,024 t-shirts 945 coloring books and $5,253. It is the largest single contributing organization to the Shoes for Orphan Souls campaign to date, collecting a total of 190,000 pairs of shoes and $67,000 in cash since the first shoe drive in 2001.

This year, Missouri Rotary district Governor John R. Gill and the Rotary’s Buckner liaison, Larry Lunsford, drove for three days straight and made 20 caravan stops to collect loads of shoes from the collections that were held in different parts of the district.

“Rotarians provide ‘Service Above Self’ in serving their local communities, and also their international community,” said Larry Lunsford, former district governor of Rotary District 6040. “For the past decade, the Shoes for Orphan Souls project has prompted Missouri Rotarians to action.  The project has been a great way for Rotarians in Missouri to partner with Buckner, and connect with the international aspects of Rotary, to help children we may never meet, just because. 

“Missouri Rotarians know that a simple gift, such as a new pair of shoes, provides tangible benefits to an orphan child, but most importantly, Rotarians believe the gift shows that child someone truly cares about them.  This year, our Rotarians responded to the needs of the Haitian children in a big way, and we are thankful to be able to help.”

Other groups who helped with this shipment include the United Postal Service, who delivered the shipment at no cost, and the Texas Baptist Men and friends who worked tirelessly to unpack the full trailer at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid.

Ben Muzechenko, transportation service manager for UPS, brought five employees to help with the unloading.

“It’s an honor to do this. My employees and I look forward to this annually, and each year it just gets better and better, just seeing everyone come together and giving their effort, that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

Andy Bugh, member of First Christian Church in Plano, is a missionary in Honduras on furlough. He said he was happy to help unload the donation because his ministry has given him a better understanding of the great need for basic necessities like shoes.

Since 1999, Shoes for Orphan Souls has delivered more than 2 million pairs of shoes and socks to orphan children in 69 countries. Shoes for Orphan Souls is a ministry of Buckner International, a Dallas-based global ministry dedicated to the restoration and healing of orphans and at-risk children, families and senior adults.

Shoes for Orphan Souls is still desperately in need of shoe donations. Buckner plans to send more shoes to orphans and vulnerable children in Haiti as well other countries in need, but can’t put shoes on orphans without your help. Click here to make an online donation.

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.

Analiz G. Schremmer

DALLAS—Shoes for Orphan Souls shipped more than 24,520 pairs of Crocs Monday, Feb. 22 to children affected by the earthquake in Haiti and plans to send at least 20,000 more.

“New, durable shoes will protect their feet from the rubble and any disease that can stem from walking around barefoot and possibly getting injured,” said Matt Asato, Buckner director for international humanitarian aid.

“Given the conditions and climate in Haiti, Crocs are the type of shoes that will protect their feet and still keep them cool,” he said.

Asato added that new shoes are something practical that will help bring hope to the people of Haiti as they begin rebuilding their lives.

Buckner International has already shipped more than 23,500 pounds of aid to the victims of the Haiti earthquake, a donation that filled an 18-wheeler truck. And with the help of donors and volunteers who sort donations, Buckner hopes to send four more shipments into the country.

To help sort shoes and humanitarian aid kits to be shipped to Haiti, click here.

To give a pair of shoes to an orphan or vulnerable child, click here.