I just wanted to let you how excited my dear friend’s nieces and nephew were when I took over those donated shoes and backpacks this evening. I took a pair of Orange Crocs for the 16 year old and she picked an orange backpack to match. Bless her heart as all she had been wearing was a pair of old sandals that were taped together. She pulled out an old pair of sneakers that were actually too small for her because she was not allowed to wear sandals to school.

The second oldest girl was hoping to get new shoes for school and needed a new backpack. Her mom, had told her she could have one or the other, but that she couldn’t afford both items in one week. When we left after about 1 hour, she had her new sneakers on and was still wearing her backpack on her back.

The middle child, a 7th grade boy, was so excited with the pair of brown Sketchers that I had found. He just kept running around outside and looking down at his feet. You could just see his self esteem go up.

I gave the next little girl a pair of dress shoes. She likes to wear dresses and skirts. She was so adorable and so thankful for her new shoes.

I gave the youngest girl, age 4 a pair of Frog Princess sneakers. You might have thought I gave her a million dollars. All of the kids were so excited to have a new backpack and were so pleased to just have a few new supplies, included inside the backpacks, for school.

I took along a pair of Nike sneakers for the childrens mom. She had been wearing a pair of hand-me-down sandals that my dear friend’s daughter had given her. It was just so touching to see her face and how much she appreciated such a simple thing as a new pair of shoes.

This single mom of 5 children is a Christian and was very active for the Lord and worked at MBNA bank before and after she got married, but after her husband left things just went downhill. She’s been unable to work with five children and is just emotionally and physically drained.

I’m sharing this so that you would uphold this family in prayer. They really need encouragement, strength and guidance. to get themselves back on track.

I didn’t even have to leave the country to see how much a new pair of shoes can mean to a child and an adult. The smiles on the girls’ faces were worth so much to me. The two older girls have a social disorder and rarely speak, but the excitement of the new shoes was all over their faces.

Thanks so much for letting me be a part of Shoes 2 Share and having this opportunity to “Give a Little and Change A Lot”!

(Names have been left anonymous for the respect & privacy of the parties involved)

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