Heart warming tale of shoes for the shoeless

More than 1000 shoes were collected to bless the shoeless through Rev Anthony Sutton of the Methodist Church..

Many children and elderly people arrived at the soup kitchen run by the church in the Langkloof in freezing cold weather with shoes worn through, tied up with string, or they came barefoot.  Rev Anthony Sutton of the Methodist Church made their plight known and started the project which has gathered  all the shoes for distribution in the district of Kouga and the Langkloof.

The church communities of Humansdorp, JeffreysBay and St Francis Bay put out collection boxes and congregations brought in pairs of shoes in plastic packets marked with the shoe size.

Methodist

The project gathered momentum when Manie, a member of the Westering MethodistChurch offered shoes as part of a project with Rotary International where they receive new shoes from a company in America called Toms Shoes. This company donated one pair of shoes to each child in need, for every pair they sold. More than 200 new pairs came from this source thanks to David Allen who assisted in organising the donation.

Another 400 plus pairs came from The Little Slipper inPort Elizabeth, thanks to Jacky Hay who organised this substantial contribution.

So far, children from 11 farm schools, as well as other schools in the Kouga area have received shoes. Sutton said: “The smiles from the children melted the hearts of all those present.”

Ethel Schonegevel, who assisted with the distribution said: “At one school, there were not enough size two shoes, only size threes which were too large for the tiny feet that needed them. They were told that the bigger size would be put away for them till their feet were large enough, but they could look at them and touch them whenever they wanted to in anticipation. The looks on their faces were touching indeed.”

Heartfelt thanks is extended to all those who contributed to this worthwhile project that has given comfort to so many children and elderly people.

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