By Lauren Hollon Sturdy
Buckner International

DALLAS – Outside the Dallas Convention Center, thousands of people huddled together, wrapped in blankets, waiting for 8:30 a.m. when the doors would open for the 8th Annual Christmas Gift 2011.

“We were told that some people even came the night before and camped out to make sure they had a good spot in line,” said Brittany Sumrall, volunteer coordinator for Shoes for Orphan Souls®, the largest humanitarian aid project of Buckner International. “This event fills such an important need in our community.”

Christmas Gift, an event run by Operation Care International, served more than 8,000 homeless people, veterans and low-income families last weekend with gifts, new clothes, warm meals, haircuts and new shoes. Buckner has participated in the event since it began in 2004 and donated more than 4,500 pairs of new shoes this year.

“The shoes provided are an incredible help to this ministry,” said Susie Jennings, founder of Operation Care. “They are the lifeline in the foot washing area.”

Jennings founded Operation Care in 1993 to provide for the physical needs of impoverished children and the homeless. Every December the organization partners with charities, churches, corporate and small business sponsors, individual sponsors and donors to hold the “nation’s largest Christmas party for the homeless.”

“Partnership is vital to this ministry,” Jennings said. “Each of our partners functions as the hands and feet of Jesus.”

Volunteer help is also essential. It took more than 3,000 volunteers to pull off Christmas Gift this year. At the foot washing station, kneeling before rows of chairs with paper towels, wet wipes and sanitizer, volunteers washed guests’ feet and fitted them with new socks and shoes.

“I was nervous about signing up for foot washing, but I felt it was where I should spend my time,” one volunteer said. “I’m so glad I went through with it. It’s been emotional and life changing.”

Buckner collects shoes year-round through its worldwide Shoes for Orphan Souls project. Since 1999, Shoes for Orphan Souls has collected and distributed more than 2.2 million pairs of new shoes to 74 countries around the world. About 20 percent of shoes collected by Buckner help vulnerable children and families in the U.S.

“Susie told me that every guest that needed a pair of shoes received a pair of shoes,” said Mike Julian, logistics manager for the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid. “That is a blessing!”

To learn more about the events and ministries of Operation Care International, visit their website at http://www.opcare.org/. For information about Shoes for Orphan Souls, visit http://shoesfororphansouls.org/.

COPPELL, Texas—One teacher at the Coppell Dance Centre doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to protecting kids’ feet.

Keith Green, director of hip-hop at the studio, found a way to put his passion and talents to a creative use to collect shoes and money for Shoes for Orphan Souls and Buckner ministries last month. He organized a hip-hop workshop fundraiser called “Good 4 the Sole,” and challenged dancers to give new shoes to attend the event at a discounted rate.

A choreographer and dancer with 14 years of experience, Green got into the industry after a torn hamstring ended his semi-pro football career. He was working as a personal trainer when one of his clients invited him to a hip-hop class. Not seeing himself as the dancing type, he sat and watched the class for two weeks. His third week there, he got up and did the routine perfectly, never having tried it before.

“It was weird to me,” Green said. “And very weird to the teacher. Dance moved me in a different way, and I felt it was where I needed to be. I sold my half of the personal training business and started working at the dance studio.”

Despite his successful career in choreography, Green felt unfulfilled. He had dreamed of doing big tours and movies, but things hadn’t panned out that way.

“As a sat and reflected on my life and career and why I didn’t make it as far as others have, I started thinking it wasn’t God’s plan for me,” he said. “I realized he was calling me to use my resources and contacts to give back and help other people.”

Choosing Buckner as the charity for his fundraiser was a “no-brainer,” Green said. He used to volunteer at the Buckner Children’s Home in Dallas in the late 90s with friends, giving free haircuts to the boys that lived there.

“It was such a great experience,” he said. “For my journey and my heart, it just stuck with me. Ever since we stopped, I’ve wanted to do something like it again.”

He asked local choreographers to donate their time to help put on the workshop. Green taught at the event, along with Robert Anthony, Jenny Durbin-Smith, Sean Jackson and Roger Lee. Peter Vattakavanich, a Glacèau employee and Dallas break-dancer, donated cases of VitaminWater and SmartWater to help dancers stay hydrated during the intense five-hour workshop.

Green gave the 48 pairs of shoes and all monetary proceeds from the event to Buckner. He said he plans to continue to hold dance workshops benefiting Buckner.

“Shoes for Orphan Souls ties in perfectly with what we do as hip-hop dancers, because our shoes are so important to what we do,” he said.

To find out more about the next workshop fundraiser, visit the Coppell Dance Centre website. Or, sign up to host your own shoe drive here.

By Lauren Hollon Sturdy

MIDLAND — More than 2,600 pairs of shoes were collected for Shoes for Orphan Souls at Rock the Desert this year, bringing the total for the last three years to around 16,000 pairs. The concert with a cause also brought in 349 pairs of new socks and $728.

The First Baptist Church Ralls youth group brought in  half of that total with 1,305 pairs of shoes they collected in the months leading up to the concert. They raised awareness of their drive by doing a “No Shoes Sunday” at their church, holding a fundraiser and promoting it on Facebook, and working with local businesses to arrange discounts for shoes purchased for the drive.

“We start early collecting shoes,” said Bruce Harris, FBC Ralls youth pastor. “That’s been our push for our youth group. It’s what we do to give back to the community.”

“It allows the kids firsthand to contribute back to a cause,” he said. “You know the scripture James 2:14-18 basically says that faith without works is dead. It goes on to say that when you see somebody hungry or lacking clothing and you do nothing, what good is that? We’re trying to teach our kids that it’s important to do something.”

Thousands of young people attended the concert, which featured such big-name Christian artists as Switchfoot, David Crowder Band and Skillet. People managed to stay cool and enjoy three days of in the triple-digit heat and dust.

“It was very enjoyable, even if it was hot and dirty,” said Eric Kline, inventory specialist for the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid. “The youth had a great time.”

The Wal-Mart Corporation played a big part in the success of the Rock the Desert shoe drive by donating the use of one of its trucks, as well as the cost of transportation and fuel, to deliver the new shoes collected at Rock the Desert to the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid in Dallas. These shoes were enough to finalize a shipment of aid to Romania last month. Wal-Mart is also providing transportation for more than 8,000 pairs of shoes collected from the shoe drive radio station JOY FM hosted in Sarasota, Fla.

“Barefoot running has become a popular trend, but it’s something the kids we serve around the world face every day,” she said. “They run barefoot because they have to, not by choice. We hope that by hosting a barefoot run we can help raise awareness of the need for shoes and have fun, as well.”

Prizes and medals will be awarded to the winners who run the race barefoot or with shoes. Special games and activities, like the Shoe-put Toss, will also be provided for children or adults who want to participate at the race. All proceeds from the race will benefit children in Africa who need shoes. 

Sponsorships are available for businesses or organizations. For more information on sponsorships or to volunteer, please e-mail shoesfororphansouls@buckner.org or call 1-866-774-SHOE.

To sign up for the race or to learn more, visit www.shoesfororphansouls.org/barefootrun.

Sue Edwards is pictured here in the top row, third from the right, with her fellow volunteer captains at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid.

Sue Edwards, a dedicated Shoes for Orphan Souls volunteer and friend of Buckner, passed away last month after a two year battle with cancer. 

She served for more than five years, first volunteering each Saturday packing shoes and, later on, supervising volunteer groups as a volunteer captain until her chemotherapy treatment left her unable to continue volunteering. 

“She truly had a servant’s heart,” said Matt Asato, director of international humanitarian aid for Buckner. “She really set a standard for our future volunteer captains on what a servant’s heart looks like. She always wanted to serve others.” 

She loved the mission of Shoes for Orphan Souls so much that she wrote a letter before she died requesting that her church, First Baptist Church in Wylie, give part of its missions offering to the program. 

Her passion was contagious, and has inspired others to serve with Buckner. Volunteer captain Ed Wales said he first met Sue when he brought his church’s youth groups to volunteer at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid. 

“She would give the orientation and get us organized to start processing shoes,” Wales said. “Her example played a part in my starting to volunteer on a weekly basis. There was no harder worker than Sue. She was the original ‘energizer bunny.’” 

Mike Julian, logistics manager at the Center for Humanitarian Aid, worked with Sue for a year when he was the volunteer coordinator. 

“She loved her family and friends,” Julian said, “And she loved the work that Buckner has done and is currently doing around the world. She had a way of keeping me in line, but when it mattered most, she was always a team player. And for her, it was always about the children we served.” 

“I believe her serving and volunteering was rooted in her love for Jesus Christ,” he said. “She loved him, she served him, and now she is worshipping him at his feet.” 

Sue will be dearly missed by all who knew and served with her through Shoes for Orphan Souls.

Ed Wales was recognized at Buckner Founder’s Day in April for his outstanding service as a volunteer captain for Shoes for Orphan Souls. Volunteer captains help manage large volunteer groups and teach them the procedure for processing shoes.

“He’s just a very joyful, fun-loving person to be around,” said Brittany Sumrall, volunteer coordinator for the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid. “He does a great job of relating to people of all ages and backgrounds.”

“Instead of just being the one giving instructions, he’ll put forth effort to learn people’s stories and to hear where they’ve come from,” Sumrall said. “With the kids, he’ll tell stories about the mission trips he’s been on to kind of bring alive the mission of Shoes for Orphan Souls.”

Ed has volunteered with Shoes for Orphan Souls for five years, but his call to serve orphans came long before that—in 1995—when he heard a KCBI radio broadcast about a mission trip to Russia and the needs of orphanages there.

“I can still remember having to pull my car to the side of the road because I literally could not see due to the tears blinding my vision,” he said. “I knew God was calling me to be involved in ministering to orphans.”

He went to Russia with Buckner on a Shoes for Orphan Souls trip in 1999, and went to China with Buckner in 2007. He retired that same year and began volunteering every week at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid.

“He’s just one of those guys that you can always count on,” Sumrall said. “To me, he’s more than a volunteer. He’s a great friend, and a wonderful friend of Buckner and the Shoes program.”

To learn more about volunteering with Buckner and Shoes for Orphan Souls, please contact Brittany Sumrall at volunteers@buckner.org or call 1-866-774-SHOE.

 

By Lauren Hollon
Buckner International 

The Austin and San Antonio branches of Transwestern real estate went head to head to help cover bare toes last month. 

The two offices competed to see who could collect the most shoes to donate to Shoes for Orphan Souls. 

Josh Delk, the associate vice president and project manager at the Austin branch, said it was the first time the company had held a charity drive. 

“Everybody got behind it,” he said. “Everyone was happy to give, and it helped that it was a very simple idea: just collect shoes.” 

Transwestern develops, leases and manages commercial real estate. It’s a competitive business, and that spirit of competition helped drive the branches to collect. 

“We would take pictures and sort of start some banter via e-mail between the branches,” said Charlotte Blanchard, office manager at the Austin branch. “We sent pictures of large piles of shoes and cars filled with shoeboxes. We really tried to make it fun.” 

The Austin branch of Transwestern sent teasing photos of their shoe drive progress to the San Antonio branch via e-mail.

“Shoes are something tangible you can actually hold and it’s something that you can actually gather up. We were able to see the donations grow as they came through,” she said. 

They put out collection boxes and fliers at their properties and sent e-mails to family, friends and tenants. The drive quickly gained momentum as the competition heated up, Delk said. 

“People started calling on their relationships with vendors, clients and major companies in San Antonio and Austin and just telling them what we were doing. Of course, once people hear about a good cause, they’ll really step up,” he said. 

The goal for the company was 500 pairs of shoes, but San Antonio “beat the pants off” Austin, Delk said. 

Transwestern San Antonio didn't slack; they collected around 1,000 pairs of shoes.

San Antonio finished with about 1,000 pairs of shoes, along with another $3,000 in donations. Austin raised 500 pairs and $500. The two branches also collected 2,910 pairs of socks. The victorious office won a happy hour from Transwestern’s president. 

The company is already looking forward to next year’s competition. 

To learn more about hosting a shoe drive, click here. To sign up, go here.

Pfifer and Finley Chastain helped raise more than 300 pairs of shoes for children in need.

By Lauren Hollon
Buckner International

At 5 years old, Pfifer Chastain decided to give up her sixth birthday party in favor of a shoe drive for orphans in need. She and her family threw a backyard carnival with the goal of raising 100 pairs of shoes.

“We had everything,” said Heather Chastain, Pfifer’s mother. “A basketball toss, milk bottle throw, duck pond, balloon pop, a putt-putt golf game, a face painter, a fire engine, balloon animals, hot dogs, popcorn and drinks. People earned tickets just like a street carnival and redeemed them for prizes.”

They posted invitations around town, in the elementary schools, the Walmart shoe department and Payless ShoeSource, and invited their church’s Wednesday night children’s ministry.

“We wanted it to be as much about the shoes as it was an outreach to get the community to come together to support a Christian organization,” Chastain said.

They did come together. Payless ShoeSource offered a 10 percent discount to customers buying shoes for the carnival after hearing about Pfifer’s project. The newspaper’s editor wrote a feature story and a letter challenging the community to rally around the idea. Even the carnival clown was excited.

“He knew somebody who worked at a Stride Rite store in Shreveport,” Chastain said. “They corporately donated 100 pairs of shoes and sent them to us to process and get to Buckner.”

She said the key to planning the carnival was keeping it simple.

“All in, including the processing of the shoes and getting them ready to send to Buckner, it probably took maybe 20 to 25 hours to plan and execute. The neat thing was, really it seemed to come together pretty easily,” she said.

“We kept it really low-key and got the kids involved. They made all the carnival signs and decorations, so it had a very homemade feel to it.”

The carnival took place last November. Within four hours, they had more than 200 guests in attendance and raised 336 pairs of shoes.

“To watch Pfifer line up those shoes and see it all become reality was a really important thing for her, and for our whole community,” said Emily Prevost, director of community ministries for Buckner in collaboration with First Baptist Church of Marshall.

“It went from an abstract thought about orphans needing shoes to a concrete reality that she was really able to do something about it,” Prevost said.

When it was all over, Pfifer asked her mom what an orphan was, exactly.

“I told her they were children who didn’t have mommies or daddies to live with,” Chastain said. “She told me, ‘Next year let’s forget the shoes and get them parents!’”

To learn more about how to be a part of the Shoes for Orphan Souls Birthday Club, visit http://www.shoesfororphansouls.org/birthdayclub.shtml.

Lauren Hollon
Buckner International

DALLAS – The Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid runs like clockwork, and volunteer captains are the oil that keeps it running smoothly.

“The volunteer captains really help me utilize the volunteers so that there’s no dead time,” said Brittany Sumrall, volunteer coordinator for Shoes for Orphan Souls. “They help make sure everyone who is there to help can be used to their best ability.”

There are currently 12 volunteer captains serving during the week at the center. Sumrall is looking to recruit eight more in 2011.

Volunteer captains help groups sign in, get nametags and fill out paperwork. Large groups can be split into smaller work groups under the volunteer captains’ leadership, with captains explaining the shoe sorting process to their groups and fielding questions.

“When the captains help lead volunteer groups, I have more availability to supervise as well as complete day-to-day tasks,” Sumrall said. “From processing shoes, to boxing them up, we rely heavily on the captains to take initiative and join the volunteers in completing the assigned projects for the day.”

Dallas volunteer captain Rosemary Morice has been volunteering with Shoes for Orphan Souls for six years and has been a captain for five.

“It’s such an easy thing to do,” Morice said. “I used to coordinate the volunteer program for the Dallas school district and when I retired, I knew I would continue volunteering because helping volunteers has always been a passion of mine.”

“A lot of people that have no experience volunteering have no idea—it’s something that’s very gratifying to the volunteer personally,” she said.

The newest volunteer captain, Dallas-resident Cleo Howard, said she had been preparing for her volunteer role for several years without realizing it.

“I shop a lot,” Howard said. “I love to shop—especially after the holidays, when everything goes on sale. I started buying children’s shoes when I would go out shopping. Every time I would come home with new pairs of shoes, my husband would say, ‘Who are these shoes for? What children are going to wear all these shoes?’ I didn’t know who they were for, but I knew they were for somebody.”

When Howard heard about the Shoes for Orphan Souls program, she knew she wanted to get involved. She began as a volunteer in October and became a volunteer captain last November.

Shoes for Orphan Souls asks captains to commit to two three-hour shifts each month, as well as a captains meeting every three months.

“The biggest need right now is people that are available on Saturday mornings or afternoons who are open to teaching others the process,” Sumrall said.

Saturday is the busiest volunteer day at the center, with 35 to 50 volunteers coming for each shift.

“There is not much training at all to become a captain” Sumrall said. “For those new to Shoes for Orphan Souls, the first step is to come volunteer at the warehouse to learn about our program. For those that have volunteered before, the next step is a face-to-face interview with me. In the interview I will review the role of a volunteer captain, time commitments, standards and expectations, and other company policies.”

“I ask them to review the information to consider if this is a program they want to be committed to. If so, they fill out a short application. Then, I usually ask them to come in on a Wednesday if they are available and meet the rest of the captains. I will also walk them through each step of the shoe process.”

Interested applicants should contact Brittany Sumrall at 214-939-7178 or bsumrall@buckner.org.

 Analiz G. Schremmer
Buckner International

DALLAS—Thirty-four provisional members of the Junior League of Dallas volunteered 20 hours of their time Sept. 18 and Oct. 2. to sort shoes for orphans and children in need around the world.

“We got to make scarecrows with the kids for October and they decorated cookies and made pumpkin crafts,” said Junior League volunteer Erin Callahan, a full-time law student at Southern Methodist University. “I really like working with these kids because I know they may come from challenging backgrounds and yet here they are volunteering to help others. It’s good to teach them the value of giving.”

The children who volunteered alongside the Junior League members attend the Buckner after-school program at Wynnewood in South Dallas and were treated to arts and crafts, pizza and a new pair of shoes.

Tiffany Hartgraves serves as one of 13 provisional project coordinators for the Junior League of Dallas. She said her committee researched applications submitted by various non-profit organizations interested in working with their provisional members on a service project.

“We selected 13 agencies to work with this year and Buckner was one of them,” Hartgraves said. “It has been such a pleasure to introduce this group of provisional members to Buckner and to help give them the opportunity to learn about all of the wonderful things Buckner is doing in our community and around the world.”

Katie Hogan, a nurse practitioner and member of the Junior League, said that provisional members were given the option of choosing their volunteer project.

“I chose to volunteer with Buckner because I grew up here [in Dallas] and I’d never worked with Buckner before,” Hogan said. “I like the Buckner mission and I like that they work locally and internationally.”

Shoes for Orphan Souls Director Rachel Garton said the volunteers packed more than six pallets of shoes during their time at the Aid Center.

“We could not begin to do all the work we have without our faithful volunteers,” Garton said. “The Junior League has been a wonderful partner for the past two years, and we look forward to working with them again in the future.”

The shoes packed by the Junior League members are scheduled for delivery to Mexico, Honduras and the Dominican Republic later this year.

To learn more about the ways you can volunteer your time to sort shoes for orphans, click here or contact Shoes for Orphan Souls at 1-866-774-SHOE.