Samaritan’s Feet and The Community Fellowship to Provide New Shoes and Encouragement for Deserving Children in Henry County, VA

MEDIA ALERT
8/2/12

Samaritan’s Feet and The Community Fellowship to Provide New Shoes and Encouragement for Deserving Children in Henry County, VA

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

Approximately 2,000 students from the community will be blessed with new athletic shoes and socks and have their feet washed by volunteers from The Community Fellowship, Mt. Calvary Church and Mercy Crossing.

This shoe distribution is a part of a larger event titled “Back2School” provided by the churches that serves the community with free haircuts, clothes, backpacks and school supplies.

WHO:
The Community Fellowship and the community are sponsoring this Samaritan’s Feet organized event.

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 and socks before heading back to school in the fall.

“Serving those in need throughout the Henry County 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 4, 2012
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

There will be a special small event for children with special needs on August 3 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at The Community Fellowship (address below).

WHERE:
The Community Fellowship
2674 Virginia Ave.
Collinsville, VA 24078

Mt. Calvary Church
350 Al Philpott HWY
Axton, VA

Mercy Crossing
1978 Joseph Martin HWY
Martinsville, VA

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 one 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.

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