As soon as I climbed into the van after leaving Zacapa Hogar Temporal in Guatemala, tears began rolling down my face.

My heart was broken by the honesty had just encountered with a gorgeous 6-year-old girl.

Her name was Jennifer, and I had been talking to her while she was playing on the swing set, just after receiving her new pink shoes from Shoes for Orphan Souls. She was absolutely ecstatic when she saw that the shoes were pink and had been proudly displaying this new gift.

I asked her where she was from, and she told me a little town near Zacapa, and then I asked the question that will forever be imprinted on my heart. I asked her why she was in the orphanage and her response, “Porque mi madre no me quiere” which means, because my mother doesn’t want me.

Read More

 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. Read More