Snapshot of the Month: Samaritan’s Feet International

This month’s organization snapshot features one of our long-time partners, Samaritan’s Feet International.

Why Samaritan’s Feet International?

There are an estimated 1.2 billion children who go without shoes every day and more than one million that are infected with foot borne diseases. The goal of Samaritan’s Feet is to give away 10 million pairs of shoes in 10 years. This organization believes that shoes are much more than status symbols and fashion accessories. Their shoe distributions are designed to meet physical needs and inspire young people to believe in the value of life and service.

What makes Samaritan’s Feet International different?

What makes this organization unique is how they serve the children. Samaritan’s Feet shares the message of hope and love by distributing new shoes and washing the feet of under-served individuals around the world. At first, it may seem uncomfortable to wash a stranger’s feet, but it is an opportunity to humbly serve someone and leave a lasting impression on both the child receiving the shoes, and the volunteer. Those 5-7 minutes are spent getting to know the child and encouraging them to work hard so that they can achieve their goals.

What are some of the most popular destinations for Samaritan’s Feet volunteers?

Some of the most popular destinations participants travel to include the countries of Burundi, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Nicaragua, South Africa, and Uganda.

How can you get involved?

There are many different ways to get involved with Samaritan’s Feet and there really is something for everyone. You can volunteer at a domestic shoe distribution in the US and impact kids domestically or you could travel with a team to Africa, Central America, and beyond to impact children in need around the world.

Other opportunities include hosting a shoe drive and collecting new shoes that will be distributed worldwide, volunteering at the organization’s warehouse in Charlotte, NC to process and prepare shoes for distribution, or setting up your own personal fundraising page.

Keep up with all that is happening through Samaritan’s Feet International by following them Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Photo: Samaritan’s Feet International