When you aren’t sure how to help the millions around you that need help, usually something simple goes a long way. That’s the case with Buckner’s Shoes for Orphan Souls.
For a small donation you can provide new shoes for a child who otherwise might not have their own shoes, not even one pair.
Here is some information provided by Buckner about why shoes are so important:
Why Are Shoes So Important?
- Walking barefoot in muddy or rocky terrain can cause injury to the foot, opening a child up to life-threatening illness.
— Podoconiosis is a debilitating condition that can be completely prevented by wearing shoes. It affects 1 million people in Ethiopia and about 500,000 in Cameroon, according to the World Health Organization. The disease also appears in Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Central and South America, India, Sri Lanka and several other places. It starts as an inflammatory reaction to walking on soil with volcanic deposits. The foot and lower leg swells and the skin becomes rough and lumpy. Besides the problem of limited mobility, people with podoconiosis become social outcasts, though the disease isn’t contagious.
— Hookworm, which can enter the body through cuts and injuries to the feet, can cause iron deficiency and anemia. “If children get iron deficiency and anemia, they don’t develop properly, and the most important thing that doesn’t develop is the brain,” says Dr. Cedric Spak, infectious disease specialist at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. “With their development stunted, they end up having an IQ of 60 to 80. Someone who’s able to hold a reasonable job in the economy has an IQ of 100 to 120.”
— The chigoe flea, or jigger, is another parasite that threatens bare feet. It’s native to Central and South America but can now be found in sub-Saharan Africa, too. It burrows into the soles of bare feet to feed on the host’s blood until it lays eggs and dies. They can be removed with tweezers or a sterile pin in a painstaking and painful process. Sometimes, the host is vulnerable to infections in the wound where the jigger burrowed into the skin. Severe cases can cause toe deformation and nail loss. It’s a painful, itchy condition. - Many schools around the world require children to wear shoes to attend, but for many poverty-stricken families, shoes are a luxury they cannot afford.
- When you give an orphan a new pair of shoes, it communicates love and helps them know they are special – that they are not forgotten.
- Why new shoes? They last longer, and as a gift to a child, they communicate volumes about what someone is worth. Simply put, we think the children we serve are worth it.
Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls Statistics
- Since 1999, Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls has distributed more than 3 million pairs of new shoes and socks to children in 80 countries.
- About 30% of all shoes donated to Shoes for Orphan Souls stay in the United States.
- In 2014, we distributed 184,542 pairs of shoes to orphans and vulnerable children in the United States and around the world.
- Learn more about Shoes for Orphan Souls from our video library .
Want to Make This Fun?
Join this year’s Run for Shoes fun run! It’s a little different this year in that you run wherever you live. I am really bummed because as you probably know by now, I just had surgery on my ankle. So, no running for me!
However, if you run, as an individual or team, contact me with your fundraising page, and I will support you with a small donation!
Go to RunForShoes to get more information and register today! Don’t delay because the event is any day between October 3 and October 10, 2015.
I hope to hear from you! Use the form below to send me your fundraiser page.
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