Published: June 22, 2009 09:34 am      

Church members wash feet, give away new shoes

By Ivy Brashear / Staff Writer

The old RC Cola warehouse in Williamsburg was full of an unfamiliar shipment Thursday afternoon, thanks to three Christian mission organizations.

Friends for Families, based out of Williamsburg, and Youth on Mission and Samaritan’s Feet, both based in North Carolina, gave away approximately 800 pairs of shoes to children from Knox and Whitley counties.

Youth on Mission has collaborated with Friends for Families for five years to provide services and help to people in the Williamsburg area, said Youth on Mission Director Sharon Dees.

Dees said Friends for Families Director Melany Hanrahan provides the organization with a project, and Youth on Mission provides the volunteers, most of which come from youth groups across the country.

Hanrahan said there were youth groups from five states volunteering at Thursday’s event and there were almost 200 local volunteers who helped, too. She said that without Youth on Mission, the shoe giveaway would not have been possible.

“This was definitely a team effort,” Dees said. She said her group has a great relationship with the organization, Samaritan’s Feet, which gives shoes to children in about 45 countries.

Dees said because of this partnership, this was the perfect project for Youth on Mission’s annual trip to Corbin.

“This year, we had the warehouse — God supplied that — and God supplied the people and he provided a wonderful relationship with Samaritan’s Feet. God just made it happen,” Dees said.

Youth on Mission members have been busy all week, completing a total of 56 projects within the community, Hanrahan said.

The shoe giveaway was Youth on Mission’s major project that ends their week in the region.

A list of children in need was given to Hanrahan by local school resource centers, churches and through word of mouth.

“It has been phenomenal to watch all these different resource centers and all these different places pull together for this one event,” Hanrahan said.

She said at one point Thursday, there was a line around the building of people waiting to receive their free pair of shoes.

The shoes were all donated and brought to the event by Samaritan’s Feet, an organization whose goal is to give away 10 million shoes in 10 years, said mobilization coordinator Steve Kinney.

Samaritan’s Feet receives shoes through numerous donations — including one from K-Mart of 1 million shoes.

Kinney said the group wanted to help the children of Whitley and Knox counties because buying a pair of shoes for some families in the area was a hard decision.

“Here, a pair of shoes causes economic strife for the family — it’s $30 for a new pair of shoes, or $30 for groceries, and we don’t want them choosing between that,” Kinney said.

Kinney said that Samaritan’s Feet is different from other shoe donation organizations because they “touch the feet and wash them,” which is something Jesus did for his disciples. Kenney said it is a way to show humility to those people whom Samaritan’s Feet serves.

For Hanrahan, the event is just a demonstration of God’s power in everyday lives.

“Be blown away by God,” Hanrahan said.