I recently went on a Shoe Drop to South Africa and my eyes were opened to the impact that a pair of shoes makes on a child’s life.  I will never forget the day we arrived at a school where the HIV rate was close to 50% amongst the 1,000 children that attended the school. Many of these kids had absolutely nothing.  When we first arrived we unloaded all of the shoes from the truck and prepared to give the kids a pair of new shoes.

As the kids began flooding in, we started to give shoes to each individual child. You could hear their laughter and excitement as the kids were amazed by their new gifts.  There was one child that walked up to me, and looking down upon his feet, I was paralyzed by what I saw. They were covered in cuts, bruises, blisters, and warts.  As I sat there on my knees I looked up at his face and saw the excitement in his eyes.  As I reached with hand outstretched and as he came in for the most epic high five of my life, I said LETS DO THIS!

Trying to find the proper shoe to fit his foot was filled with the same joy you might experience when searching for the perfect gift for a loved one. We tried size 42, too big. Size 40 seemed too small, it had to be the 41. I said to him, “THIS IS IT!” His face lit up with joy in anticipation of his new gift. VICTORY!!! We found the right one. He then seemed as though he didn’t know what to do next…  “Should I run first, should I jump, go kick the soccer ball??….”

I cannot begin to explain the feeling of joy I felt with what happened next.  He turned to walk away, but then turned back and jumped into my arms, calling me his “dear friend.”  It was in that moment I realized that literally every pair makes a difference.  Every pair that is given truly makes an impact as there are now thousands of children who have experienced that same anticipation, joy, and excitement that I witnessed with that child in South Africa.

Although those moments have passed and I’ve been back at HQ for months now, those experiences are fueling a big project that will launch this weekend. Details to come soon, but know that every single child who receives a pair of shoes has a story like this one. And every single person who purchases a pair initiated that story… whether it’s 1 of 100, 1 of 1,000 or 1 of 10,000- each 1 has an impact.

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