Buckner steps in to meet local shoe need
___DALLAS--Buckner Orphan Care International teamed up with a West Dallas community center and two churches Aug. 11 to provide area children with 200 pairs of shoes collected through the Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls drive.
___Buckner joined Voice of Hope Ministries to distribute the new shoes to children in the communities served by West Dallas Community Church and Iglesia Bautista Calvario.
___Philip Williams, vice president for church and community development at Buckner Baptist Benevolences, explained that while Buckner will send tens of thousands of shoes to orphanages in other countries, the Aug. 11 distribution "acknowledges the acute need for humanitarian aid locally."
___Voice of Hope President Daniel Prescott said the shoes will be distributed to children pre-selected by West Dallas Church and Calvario Church based on need. Voice of Hope is a 21-year-old Christian social ministry and community center located in West Dallas.
___West Dallas Church and Calvario Church, both affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, offer multiple social ministries in their communities. West Dallas is a predominantly African-American congregation founded 19 years ago by Arvell Wilson, who still serves as pastor. Calvario is a multi-cultural congregation that conducts services in English and Spanish under the leadership of Pastor Roland Johnson.
___Shoes for Orphan Souls is an annual Buckner initiative seeking to collect thousands of new shoes for orphans around the world. Last year, shoes and other aid collected during the drive went to children in Russia, Romania, China, Mexico, Ukraine, Belarus, Kenya, Ethiopia, Latvia, Peru, Croatia, and India, as well as the United States.
___This year the Shoes for Orphan Souls drive will attempt to surpass last year's total by collecting more than 100,000 donated shoes, socks and shoestrings.
___Information about the drive is available toll free at (877) 7-ORPHAN or at www.shoesfororphansouls.org.
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The Baptist Standard
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