LaGRANGE – Every day there are millions of shoes tossed away into trash, dumpsters and landfills and are never to be used again. Around 600 million pairs of shoes are thrown away in the United States and the majority of those shoes can still be worn by people.

Harvest Time Outreach Ministries is committed to coordinating a shoe collection where they find pairs of worn-out, beat-up and used shoes from landfills, and refurbish them like they’re brand new to send to people young and old who are less fortunate in developing countries across the world.

Harvest Time Outreach Ministries is an outreach church ministry in Georgia led by the Rev. Bill Blackmon. The ministry holds its services at the David H. Aldrich Community Center at 412 King Avenue in Pine Mountain. Areas that the Harvest Time Outreach Ministries like to target are Columbus, Harris County and Troup County.

“We are excited about our shoe drive,” said Blackmon, the senior pastor. “We know that most people have extra shoes in their closets they would like to donate to us and help those less fortunate become self-sufficient. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Blackmon said the shoe collection drive started in January and Harvest Time has already committed to collecting and donating 2,500 pairs of shoes. Once the shoes are accumulated they will be redistributed to Funds2Orgs network.

Funds2Orgs is a social enterprise company that works with organizations to help raise money collecting used and new shoes that are distributed to microenterprise partners in developing nations. Funds2Orgs helps impoverished people start, maintain and grow businesses in countries like Haiti, Honduras and other nations in Central America and Africa. Earnings from the sales are used to feed, clothe and house their families, as well as help reduce what goes into landfills in Georgia.

Blackmon says he believes the show collection drive his ministry is involved in will make a significant impact in the lives of the people who seriously need the shoes.

“This is really important because we take for granted being able to wear shoes every day,” said Blackmon. “There are millions of families who are less fortunate throughout the world who don’t have any shoes to wear on their feet that really need them. As a ministry, we just want to be able to provide for these people and just be a blessing in making their lives better moving forward.”

If you’re interested in donating shoes that are gently worn, used or are new, you can call 706-400-4158 or 770-873-0124 and someone from the ministry will pick them up.

 

Shirttail- Reach James Simpson II at 706-884-7311, ext. 2155, or by email at james.simpson@lagrangenews.com