Church shoe giveaway steps up mission

By Alonzo Garza
POST-REGISTER

Eager children waited patiently outside the First Presbyterian Church of Lockhart early in the morning on Saturday, Aug 16. They were waiting for an opportunity to be the beneficiaries of God’s love through the church’s “Starting Off on the Right Foot” shoe giveaway.

In its second year of giving shoes to Lockhart’s

kindergarten – fifth grade children, the First Presbyterian Church stepped up their mission. Last year they handed out 100 pairs of shoes within an hour and a half of opening their doors.

Volunteers assisted Lockhart children in picking out and trying on their favorite pair of shoes as they arrived at the First Presbyterian Church.

“We bought 125 pair of shoes for this year,” church secretary Lynn Kelley said “Last year we gave away more than 100 shoes and we intend to keep on doing this every year for as long as possible. It makes us really proud to be able to show God’s love to the kids.”

The church, with contributions set aside specifically for the shoe giveaway, purchases the shoes. They then set up tables to display the shoes in order of sizes and styles so that children would have all the shoes available for them to compare as they picked their favorite color and style of shoe.

After the great success of last year’s shoe giveaway, the church has committed to making it an annual event and expects the program to grow.

“Sometimes people complain because churches are always asking for money and they never get to see what the church does with it,” Reverend Fred E. Abney said. “Here is a perfect example of how churches help out the community.”

Abney praised the hard work of the volunteers and the efforts made by all the church people who helped by contributing to the mission and in setting up the event.

The smiling faces on the children as they walked from table to table to look for a pair of shoes was enough to convince the church volunteers that they were doing something worth while and, more importantly, that it was appreciated.

The children left the church beaming with pride and clutching their brand new, God-given shoes, as they made their way out the door with their spirits lifted.
agarza@post-register.com