June 1, 2011
06/02/11 Many children in Guatemala do not have shoes because families are so poor they cannot afford shoes. While many of us here in the USA enjoy going barefoot, the majority of us do so by choice. In much of Guatemala, a pair of shoes is a great treasure. Shoes are worn until there are holes in the bottoms and tops and often when feet outgrow shoes, the ends are purposely cut so that they can still be worn.
Members from the Shiloh Wesleyan Church King and 4B Roads north of Plymouth are collecting new and gently used shoes for IMPACTO’s Happy Feet Ministry. The local mission team has set a goal of 500 pairs of shoes to distribute in Guatemala in early July.
A Happy Feet event is one that the Guatemalan people will stand in line for, push and shove to get in, and many go away crying if there are no shoes in their size available. The most requested sizes needed are from 0 through men’s size 11 while the most requested sizes for ladies are from size 4 to 9. Sandals, flip-flops, enclosed sandals, tennis shoes and leather shoes are all great. Children’s footwear is also in great damand.
A pair of shoes is something many from the USA take for granted. That is not the case in Guatemala. If you would like to donate shoes for men, women, children , and even infants they can be dropped off here at the WTCA Studios, 112 West Washington Street, at the Plymouth H & R Block in the Pilgrim Place Shopping Center on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during normal business hours and at the Shiloh Wesleyan Church at King and 4B Roads.
While the Happy Feet Ministry is the teams main mission they will also be building a “Widow’s House” during the 7 day stay. There are 12,000 homeless widows due to the civil war that ended in 1996.