Students at West Franklin Elementary in South-Western City Schools got a big surprise today when Samaritan’s Feet paid them a visit.
Samaritan’s Feet is the organization with a global goal: No shoeless children.
So far it’s put shoes and socks on the feet of 6.5 million kids in need.
Principal Dawn Lauridsen said so many children at West Franklin fit that profile.
She keeps containers of stuff for them if they come to school in the same clothes or with shoes that are falling apart and those containers empty quickly.
Samaritan’s Feet offered help in the outfitting Friday. With Walmart’s assistance, it provided 750 kids with new socks and shoes.
“I’m going to put them on every day,” third grader Kiani Castillo said.
Castillo sat in a chair while a volunteer washed her feet so they were clean for the new shoes.
That volunteer made sure Castillo knew she cared, talking with her and wishing her a great day.
“Shoes are just the vehicle we use to get the person in the seat,” Samaritan’s Feet Executive Director of U.S. Operations Graham Gibbs said. ”To have that interaction just like one man had with an African child which has changed the world.”
That child was Manny Ohonme. When he was 9 years old, a missionary from Wisconsin came to Africa and gave him his first pair of shoes.
That’s what put him on a path to help children, including the kids at West Franklin.
It really is soles for the soul and Principal Lauridsen couldn’t have been happier to welcome Samaritan’s Feet.
“We can’t thank them enough. Our mantra here is moments matter, and we’ve made them matter for 750 kids today,” she said.