Americans Collect Back-to-School Shoes for Needy Kids Nationwide

Program Makes it Less Embarrassing for Inner-City Kids to Go Back to School: “Give inner-city children good shoes and they’re more likely to stay in school—with a fighting chance to break out of the cycle of poverty they were born into,” says Ted Gandy, director of Here’s Life Inner City

NEW YORK, Aug. 3, 2007—It's back-to-school time, and families nationwide are heading to stores and malls for school supplies and clothes. But for hundreds of thousands of U.S. kids, the task is not quite that simple because their families can't afford the luxury of buying basic back-to-school supplies-or even new shoes. Called "Heart and Sole," this Here's Life Inner City program connects donations of new shoes with school children who need them the most.

"Children without decent shoes are deeply embarrassed ... in many cases, so humiliated that they don't even want to go to school for risk of being ridiculed," said Ted Gandy, national director of Here's Life Inner City.  "Give inner-city children good shoes and they're more likely to stay in school-with a fighting chance to break out of the cycle of poverty they were born into. That's why Americans across the country participate each year in Here's Life Inner City's ‘Heart and Sole' campaign-an initiative to impact the lives of needy kids through the gift of a pair of shoes."

The new shoes, donated by caring Americans nationwide, will be distributed to kids in need through Here's Life Inner City youth development centers.  More than 130 Here's Life Inner City youth development centers are in operation around the country, developing at-risk children and helping to turn them into strong leaders. Operated by inner-city churches, the centers provide children tutoring, computer training, mentoring, Bible classes, and other activities designed to nurture their development.

"Life for a child living in a low income family can be tough, and statistics show that one-third of U.S. children fit into this category," said Gandy. "We are dedicated to mobilizing local churches and organizations to bring hope and joy into the lives of these children."

The "Heart and Sole" program currently helps hundreds of families per year, but would like to do more. For information regarding participation in the "Heart and Sole" campaign, call (212)494-0321 or visit www.HLIC.org.

Here's Life Inner City, the urban ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, International, is dedicated to equipping churches to provide help and hope to the poverty-stricken in their communities. Since 1983, Here's Life Inner City and more than a thousand partner churches and organizations have been responding to the growing epidemic of poverty and despair in the inner city.  The wide-ranging efforts have provided the poor with food and other basic necessities, life skills, career development, and youth development programs. 

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