(Photo cred: Buckner)
USA (MNN/BOC) — Piles of waterproof sandals flooded out of trucks and overflowing boxes. Buckner International Shoes for Orphan Souls, an organization dedicated to providing shoes and socks for orphans and vulnerable children worldwide, received an incredible donation from Niagara University.
29,244 sandals were delivered to Buckner on August 1. This is the first donation of a long-term partnership between Buckner and the Sandal Falls Project.
The Sandals Falls Project was started by a student-led business club at Niagara University known as B.O.L.D. (Business Organizational Leadership Development).
B.O.L.D worked with the community outreach branch from their university, Rev. Joseph Levesque, C.M. Institute for Civic Engagement.
Together they collected sturdy, waterproof sandals that were purchased by tourists at Niagara Falls who would wear the sandals for only a few hours. Business students and club members volunteered to sanitize, sort, and bag the sandals.
“The students are passionate about this project and work hard during the school year to organize student work groups that make this possible,” said Yvette Suarez, institute coordinator at Rev. Joseph L. Levesque, C.M. Institute for Civic Engagement. “It has been our prayer that we would find a partnership that helps us reach the less fortunate, and now the students can focus more effectively at continuing the process. This relationship with Buckner gives them an outlet to do what they set out to do because Buckner is a tangible organization meeting a tangible need.”
Buckner will be donating many of the sandals, along with nearly 500 other donated shoes, to Rio Grande Valley for migrant children crossing the Texas border.
“The timing of this donation is an answer to prayer for our team and will allow us to serve even more children who are crossing the Texas-Mexico border seeking refuge in the United States,” said Ashley Williamson, Shoes for Orphan Souls manager. “We pray that the sandals will remind these children of the Lord’s love and provision for them in the midst of so much uncertainty.”
To donate to Buckner International, click here.
Pray for the sandals to be delivered successfully and to be a reminder of the Lord’s love for the migrant children of Rio Grande Valley.
