Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls {Community Service Ideas for Kids}


The Coppell Home School Association is a great place for homeschoolers to go on some amazing field trips with other homeschool friends.  We recently went on a service-related field trip to the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid in Dallas.  They serve in countries around the world but their six main countries include Peru, Honduras, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Kenya.  



They have many programs available but we were specifically there to work on the Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls program which provides new shoes and socks to orphans in the United States and around the world.  It was a great way for my children to serve others in a child-friendly environment and help spread God's love to the world.  Here are some facts we learned:

  • There are 153 million orphans and 95% of them are over the age of 6
  • Shoes protect people's feet from hookworm, jiggers, parasites, and tetanus
  • Since 1999, Buckner has collected and distributed 3 million pairs of shoes to children in 80 countries.
  • 50,000 shoes have been sent to orphans in the United States

The boys in our group went off to help in the back while the girls worked directly with the shoes.  We worked together on this box of female athletic shoes.


We would take a pair, cut off any labels and remove any of the paper that might be stuck down in the shoe (it costs more in shipping to leave tags and packaging material in the shoes).  Then we wrote an encouraging note to whomever would receive these shoes. 


We said a prayer over the shoes for the person who would wear them.  



Then we tucked the note inside the shoes and secured them together with giant rubber bands.



Once we were done, we deposited the shoes into the appropriate bins for their size.



While the girls were working on the shoes, the boys were in the back of the room, sorting through other donated goods.



Nicholas was helping to pull down boxes from the stacks and sorting through them.



He joked about all the boxes being Bath Tissue boxes but none of them actually contained bath tissue.



He worked hard and seemed to enjoy what he was doing.


We worked for 2 hours.  When we were done we were encouraged to try the Barefoot Experience.  Buckner had pictures of the ground in Peru, Ethiopia, and Mexico and they had recreated that ground for us to walk on with our bare feet. 


It certainly helped us gain an appreciation for how hard it must be for people in these countries who have no shoes.


It was inspiring to see a long row of boxes filled with shoes lined up and ready to ship out to these countries in need.


I am so grateful to the Coppell Home School Association for introducing us to Buckner.  We all enjoyed the work and we would love to serve here again.



Volunteers are needed for Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls in the Dallas and Rio Grand Valley areas.  Please consider reaching out to them and seeing how you can help.

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