By Wayne Allen
The Kiwanis Club of Lucasville have collected 1,116 pairs shoes that will be shipped to Haiti or Africa, where they can find new life.
Leanne Allen, Kiwanis Club of Lucasville spokeswoman, said the shoes were collected through Missions in Motion International, Shoes for H.O.P.E. Program and the shoes will be distributed and used by those that need them the most. Allen said the shoes were collected among Kiwanis members and the community.
“This is kind of an Ohio Kiwanis project,” Allen said. “We jumped right on it and we were amazed with how many shoes we ended up with.”
She said the shoes were sorted and shipped on Saturday, and said this seems like a project the club will keep going.
“It’s possible we could do it again, because it was not hard. Lots of people have shoes they never wear or don’t wear anymore,” Allen said.
According to www.missions-in-motion.org, 2011, the average woman owns about 17 pairs of shoes. The average woman wears three pairs of shoes regularly, the rest sit in a closet. Half of the world lives on $2.50 a day. Three billion people cannot afford food, clothing or housing. People die every day from diseases contracted from not having shoes to wear and over 300 million children do not have shoes to wear.
She said this project did not take a lot to get started and yet it will have a big impact on those receiving the shoes.
According to the Mission in Motion Facebook page, “since August 2013, we’ve been able to collect and ship over 54,000 pairs of shoes to those in need in Haiti and Africa.” There was an additional 31,000 pairs of shoes donated in June, with a portion of those coming from Kiwanis members.
According to www.missions-in-motion.org, “Shoes for H.O.P.E. is an exciting program making a positive impact around the world businesses, schools, organizations, and individuals are getting involved. Missions in Motion International Ministries and PraiseFest Ministries have teamed up to collect 2,500,000 pairs of shoes nationally. We are collecting new and used shoes for people that do not have shoes.”
Allen said in addition to collecting shoes the Kiwanis Club of Lucasville stays active with community projects and meetings.
“Last Monday night we held a free ice cream giveaway. We always go down to Center Street Church parking lot in Lucasville. We set up for an hour or an hour and a half, giving our free Ice Cream Sunday’s and we served 128,” Allen said.
She said the club has been giving away ice cream this way for roughly 15 years.
The Kiwanis Club of Lucasville meet the second and fourth Monday of each month at the Lucasville Branch of the Portsmouth Public Library at 6 p.m. For more information about the club and its activities visit them on Facebook.
Wayne Allen can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 1933 or on Twitter @WayneallenPDT
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