CERI takes warmth and comfort to Moldovan orphans

KINGWOOD—Children's Emergency Relief International's annual effort to provide Eastern European orphans winter boots has partners in Moldova this year.

In 1999, the Zorile shoe factory produced CERI's first order of boots, but since then, price constraints have dictated boots be purchased elsewhere and shipped to Moldova.

"We've maintained a great relationship with management all these years, even though we weren't buying our boots from them," said Gretchen Lange, director of development for CERI, a division of Baptist Child & Family Services. "This year, we were able to agree on a price."

CERI alternates years between providing winter boots, socks and caps for children in orphanages in Moldova and Transniestria. This year, more than 7,000 orphans in Moldova benefit.

The cost for each pair of boots, including storage and delivery, is $25. So far, more than $50,000 has been raised, but about $120,000 more is needed by Thanksgiving.

This also is the first year CERI has been awarded a grant from a Moldovan entity. The Edelweiss Foundation has promised a contribution of $10,000 toward the Kids 'n Boots campaign.

CERI alternates years between providing winter boots, socks and caps for children in orphanages in Moldova and Transniestria.

The foundation's website states: "All of the foundation's initiatives are based on the idea that people have to have the opportunity to fully develop their potential in order to contribute to the development of the society we live in.

"This can be achieved by developing opportunities for talented people, offering support for the capable youth, by encouraging initiatives which stimulate people's potential to improve their living and support programs which foster our society's progress."

"It's been such a blessing to be able to buy the boots in-country and support the local economy and the families of the working poor, but it also is great to team with this Moldovan foundation as it invests in the future of its own children," Lange said.

CERI Executive Director Dearing Garner said partnerships bode well for the future.

"We have a very large and respected presence in Moldova, and this will only enlarge that. I see this as an opportunity to increase our partnerships with other industries and entities," he said.

For more information or to contribute to CERI's Kids 'n Boots fund, visit cerikids.org .

"There are more than 7,000 children who are depending on us for winter warmth," Garner said.