This year will be the 13th in which Ellijay Hope Lutheran Church has served as a drop-off point for an international shoe drive that directly serves orphan and vulnerable children.
The Shoes for Orphan Souls drive is sponsored by Buckner International, an international Christian nonprofit. According to the sponsor organization, the humanitarian effort serves children in 83 countries and almost one-fourth of the donated shoes and socks are given to underprivileged children in the United States.
“A friend of mine’s son is a schoolteacher in Tennessee and they are getting these shoes for children there,” said Hope Lutheran member Diana Barbato, who began coordinating the Ellijay church’s yearly collection effort after she first heard about the shoe drive on Chattanooga Christian radio station WMBW 89.9 FM.
“I heard about it for probably 3 years and all of a sudden said, ‘I want to do this.’ That was 13 years ago,” she added.
In developing countries, the donated footwear helps protect against diseases and infections, some of which are caused by parasites or children walking and working barefoot.
For this reason, athletic shoes and boots, rather than open toe shoes or sandals, are the most needed items and larger sizes of shoes for school-age kids are preferred, Barbato noted. Only new shoes can be donated and donations of new socks and shoelaces are also gladly accepted, she added.
“The older children these shoes are going to are already working, so they need something sturdy,” Barbato said. “A lot of people see little (baby) shoes and donate them because they are cute, but closed toe, athletic shoes are what we need the most. Socks are also important because every child who gets a pair of shoes also gets two pairs of new socks.”
Barbato said an inspirational message is tucked inside each pair of shoes that departs from Ellijay Hope Lutheran.
“The whole point of doing this is, not only does it give these children shoes and socks that they need, it’s to reach them and let them know that Jesus loves them. Every single pair of shoes that has gone out from here since the beginning has had a gift tag taped inside. There’s a picture of Jesus with a lamb at his feet and it says, ‘A gift for you from Hope Lutheran Church in Ellijay, Ga., United States of America. Jesus loves you and so do we. You are very special in God’s eyes.’ No pair of shoes has ever gone out without that tag taped inside so it doesn’t get lost,” she explained.
“There are various things put inside the shoes (that are donated by others). Sometimes families will send their names and addresses or a family picture, but this is what we do and have done all long. The socks also have a note on the outside of their packages and every box that we ship out has that gift tag on top of it.”
A donation box has been put up outside the church, located at 3295 Old Highway 5 South, confirmed Hope Lutheran pastor David Smedley.
“It’s been a big ministry for us with people from the church and the local community donating shoes,” said Smedley about the drive.
The church is not holding regular in-person services for the time-being, so all donations of shoes, socks and shoelaces should be left inside the box near the church entrance, noted Barbato. Donations will be accepted until the deadline of Aug. 23.
Buckner International states that, since 1999, the organization has distributed more than 4 million pairs of new shoes and socks to unprivileged children in the U.S. and abroad.
Barbato is proud that items donated by people in Ellijay have been among that 4 million.
“When we are finished, the boxes are taken to the radio station in Chattanooga and loaded onto a semi. The freight company donates that service to take them to Texas where Buckner Orphan Care is located. Our collection drop off point, the radio station, is the biggest contributor in the country to Buckner,” Barbato said.
“People who do short term missionary work take these shoes to children. A group from Chattanooga goes every year, particularly to Oaxaca, Mexico. They will call in to the radio station and let folks hear what’s actually happening when they are putting the shoes on children’s feet. They find the notes that have been put inside and read them to the children and they always have an interpreter if one is needed,” she added.