Donations to an annual charitable shoe drive for children in developing countries and the United States are still being accepted at Ellijay Hope Lutheran Church.
For the past 17 years, the church has been a collection point for the Shoes for Orphan Souls drive sponsored by Christian nonprofit Buckner International, which serves children in more than 80 countries including the U.S., according to the organization’s webpage.
This year’s shoe drive began Aug. 1, and donations will be accepted until Aug. 25, confirmed church member and local shoe drive organizer Diana Barbato. Ellijay Hope Lutheran has been the shoe drive’s only collection point in Gilmer County for some time, she noted.
Donations of new, unworn athletic shoes and boots, as well as accessories like socks and shoelaces, can be left in a donation box that’s been put up in front of the main entrance of the church located at 3295 Old Highway 5 South.
Church members typically send each pair of donated shoes with a gift tag attached that says, “A gift for you from Hope Lutheran Church in Ellijay, Ga.”
The collected shoes and accessories will first go to a regional drop-off point, radio station WMBW-FM in Chattanooga, Tenn., then to the Buckner organization in Texas for distribution. The radio station normally makes the largest shoe drive shipment in the entire U.S.