Samaritan’s Feet and City of Refuge Ministries to Provide New Shoes and Encouragement for Deserving Children in Fort Smith, AR in Conjunction with the Office Depot Foundation National Backpack Program

MEDIA ALERT
8/1/12

Samaritan’s Feet and City of Refuge Ministries to Provide New Shoes and Encouragement for Deserving Children in Fort Smith, AR in Conjunction with the Office Depot Foundation National Backpack Program

WHAT:
Humanitarian non-profit Samaritan’s Feet is proud to announce their Back to Basics back to school shoe distribution event in Fort Smith, AR.

Approximately 220 children from the community will be blessed with new athletic shoes and socks and have their feet washed by volunteers from the City of Refuge Ministries.

WHO:
City of Refuge Ministries is sponsoring this Samaritan’s Feet organized event.

The Office Depot Foundation is donating sackpacks containing basic school supplies for each child.

City of Refuge is additionally providing each family with a 40 pound bag of groceries and care packs that include laundry detergent and personal hygiene items.

WHY:
Many families face the new school year with anxiety stemming from the burden of stretching the family budget to purchase required school supplies. Millions of children right here in the US wake up with holes in their shoes or have to squeeze their feet into shoes that are two or three sizes too small. Many suffer the embarrassment of taking their books and supplies to school in plastic grocery bags.

To address these concerns, Samaritan’s Feet and partners across the United States are uniting to prepare students materially, physically and psychologically for school through the Back to Basics initiative. Furthermore, Samaritan’s Feet’s Back to Basics program empowers thousands of volunteers from diverse backgrounds to serve others in their own community. The objective is to celebrate the start of school by making the families feel loved, valued and encouraged.

This local Back to Basics event is one of the 84 domestic distributions that are as yet planned for 2012. Approximately 39,000 children will receive new shoes, socks and sackpacks with supplies (donated by the Office Depot Foundation) before heading back to school in the fall.

“Serving those in need throughout the Fort Smith community is a great opportunity to bring hope and encouragement to those who are struggling financially,” said Manny Ohonme, founder of Samaritan’s Feet. “We are profoundly grateful for the dedicated volunteers who donate their time and energy to give back to those in need.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Recipients have been pre-registered but media guests are welcome for photo and video opportunities. This event is not open to the public.

WHEN:
August 3, 2012
5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

WHERE:
City of Refuge Ministries
1217 S. Waldron Rd. Suite O
Fort Smith, AR 72904

ABOUT SAMARITAN’S FEET:
Samaritan’s Feet is a 501(c)(3) humanitarian aid organization that shares a message of hope and love through washing the feet of impoverished children around the world and adorning them with new shoes. There are an estimated 300 million children who go without shoes every day and more than 1 million that die each year from foot borne disease. Our goal is to provide 10 million pairs of shoes for children in the next 10 years, and since 2003 Samaritan’s Feet and its team of ambassadors have blessed more than four million children in more than 60 nations.

Samaritan’s Feet was started in 2003 by Manny Ohonme who received his first pair of shoes at the age of nine from a missionary. Those shoes allowed him to learn and play the game of basketball, which ultimately earned him a scholarship to the University of North Dakota (Lake Region). Manny went on to receive his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and pursued a successful career in supply chain software industries. A simple pair of shoes and the kindness and compassion shared by this missionary changed the course of Manny’s life. Learn more at www.samaritansfeet.org.

ABOUT THE OFFICE DEPOT FOUNDATION:
The Office Depot Foundation is an independent foundation (tax exempt under IRC Sec. 501(c)(3)) that serves as the independent charitable giving arm of Office Depot, Inc. In keeping with its mission, Listen Learn Care®, the Foundation supports a variety of programs that help children succeed in school and in life; enable civil society (non-profit) organizations to become more efficient and effective; assist people and businesses in preparing for disasters, then recovering and rebuilding afterwards; strengthen local communities through grants, product donations and volunteerism; and encourage community development through entrepreneurship and economic innovation. For more information, visit www.officedepotfoundation.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jenny Fritz
Samaritan’s Feet, Associate Director of Marketing
704.200.2208
jfritz@samaritansfeet.org