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Project offers shoes and togetherness
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Published: October 16, 2009
With 6,000 pairs of shoes waiting to be laced and sorted, a local church is hoping to bring the Mooresville community together for National Make a Difference Day and the Charlotte-based Samaritan's Feet.
On Oct. 24, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., New Hope Missions Church, in conjunction with the Mooresville Christian Mission, will host a service project at Lake Norman Dance Gallery, 443 Williamson Road. Volunteers from across town and the region are invited to participate, said New Hope Pastor Peter Varvaris, who is spearheading the event.
Gathering as many volunteers as possible – 100 to 150 at the least – Varvaris said they will be unlacing, unknotting and properly lacing 6,000 pairs of shoes from Samaritan's Feet. Volunteers will also assist in sorting and grouping the footwear by size in preparation for later distribution to those less fortunate.
Samaritan's Feet is a nonprofit ministry "dedicated to changing lives through Shoes of Hope distributions around the world." The organization receives monetary donations toward the purchase of shoes as well as product donations from manufacturers to pass on to those people who cannot afford a new pair of shoes to keep their feet safe and clean.
Said Varvaris, "Samaritan's Feet takes teams of people when they distribute these shoes, to actually wash the feet of shoe recipients, and put on new socks and shoes, as they tell them about (and show them) God's love."
The pastor said this particular project was chosen after church members participated with Samaritan's Feet in August for a shoe distribution in Washington, D.C., and in September while working at their warehouse in Charlotte.
Calling both events "a blessing," Varvaris said a member of Samaritan's Feet suggested bringing the service to Mooresville and New Hope Missions Church agreed that it'd be a worthwhile project for National Make a Difference Day.
"We could make this not just a ministry for our church, but a project for the whole community," he said, noting that other nonprofit organizations in Mooresville as well as other churches are invited to attend the Saturday event and set up a booth or table to discuss their own ministries or service.
As a ministry- and service-based church – the congregation has yet to worship – Varvaris said they hope this project will help inspire others throughout Mooresville into volunteering their time and efforts as well.
"We hope to mobilize more people in the Mooresville community for ongoing service through the many non-profit service organizations that will be represented at our location on Make a Difference Day, as well as through our church," he said.
"We believe that when people experience the joy and blessing of helping others on this one day, they will want to do it again, hopefully on an ongoing basis."
He added, "(Service) will bless them as much as, if not more, than those they serve."
As a result of this project, Varvaris said 6,000 people will be helped by attaining new footwear they otherwise may never have. Some of those individuals might even reside in Mooresville as Varvaris noted that his church plans to conduct a Samaritan's Feet distribution, again with the assistance of the Mooresville Christian Mission, in November. Nearly 250 people in town would benefit from this service.
"When you go away, you come back wanting to serve the people right here in need in your own town," he said.
For more information about this project, visit www.hope4ever.org or call Varvaris at 704-928-5390.
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