wanted to get involved in the shoe collection when she told me about it.
I remember the first time she and I helped
sort and pack shoes at the processing center in Dallas in 2000. A space was donated seasonally at a local shopping mall for shoe and sock donations to be dropped off and prepared for international shipments. Every inch of the room was lined with boxes and bags full of shoes, collected by families throughout Dallas.
Buckner employees and volunteers chatted as we cut the tags off shoes and sorted an array of sneakers, boots and sandals by gender and size. I loved the
experience and stayed involved in the ministry throughout high school by collecting shoes with my church youth group and volunteering in the Shoes for Orphan Souls office during summer breaks.
In 2004, my mom and I went on our first international trip with Buckner to Latvia and Russia. The trip awakened me to the needs of orphans and the work Buckner was doing to support them. I first got involved with Shoes for Orphan Souls because of my mom’s work at Buckner, but once I returned home from that trip, I knew I wanted to be part of the ministry long term.
• • •
Throughout college, I continued to work with Buckner as a summer camp counselor and Shoes for Orphan Souls
intern. I
returned to Russia in 2010 as a Project Go volunteer and loved building relationships with the kids in the orphanages we served throughout that summer.
A full-time position opened up on the Shoes for Orphan Souls team a few months after I came back from that trip. I had considered moving overseas permanently, but when I was offered the job at Buckner, I knew it was exactly where the Lord was leading me.
SPRING 2015 ISSUE • Buckner Today 19
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