Church pairs with nonprofit to give youth new sneakers
by Anath Hartmann | Staff Writer

Three hundred Laurel area children will receive free, brand new tennis shoes at a daylong event March 18 organized by a church in Laurel and a North Carolina-based philanthropic organization.

Samaritan’s Feet, an evangelical group whose goal is to provide tennis shoes at no cost to 10 million children worldwide over the next decade, is partnering with metropolitan area churches to collect and distribute between 1,500 to 2,000 shoes to children in March.

Samaritan’s Feet chose Laurel as its collection and distribution site in Prince George’s County, and First Assembly of God church pastor, the Rev. Chris McMillan, volunteered the use of his church as the venue.

‘‘Even though [Laurel] is a relatively affluent area, there are still pockets where kids don’t have shoes, or hand me down shoes that don’t fit,” McMillan said. The shoes will be distributed to the first 300 children who show up — from toddlers to 19-year-olds.

The giveaway will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include a pizza lunch, a moon bounce and sports events. First Assembly’s volunteers will also wash and apply oil to the children’s feet, which, in the New Testament, Jesus did to the feet of his disciples as a sign of humbleness.


The volunteers will then outfit the children’s feet with new socks and the tennis shoes, McMillan said. ‘‘It’s a personal way to make sure that each child is attended to,” he said.

Samaritan’s Feet founder Emmanuel Ohonme, a native of Lagos, Nigeria, has helped to collect and give away about 400,000 pairs of shoes since the nonprofit started in 2003.

Ohonme had never before owned shoes when a missionary presented him with a pair when he was 9 years old, a gift that inspired him to do the same for other youth.

First Assembly of God congregation members are supporting the event by purchasing some of the shoes, and private donors are also being encouraged to purchase and donate as many pairs as they can.

McMillan said First Assembly of God has been advertising the event this month via newspapers and radio stations.

‘‘Every time we see people in the congregation and even through our jobs, we’ve been encouraging [them]” to make donations, said Erica Wilkening, a volunteer at the church, whose husband, Rod Wilkening, is the youth pastor. ‘‘It feels like every year it gets worse and worse in terms of what parents can actually afford for their kids, so doing this, offering free shoes that are actually nice shoes that will last a long time, will be awesome.”

How to help

To donate new tennis shoes for children, you may call First Assembly of God at 301-490-0100, visit the church at 1102 Montgomery St., Laurel, or contact Samaritan’s Feet at www.samaritansfeet.org. Donations are tax deductible.