Donate shoelaces and shoes to help refugees, impoverished youth

salvetoday Posted On January 27, 2020
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Items as simple as shoes and shoelaces can make a big impact on a person in crisis. The Center for Community Engagement and Service is offering two ways to get involved through donating these vital essentials to refugees at the U.S. border as well as impoverished youth in America.

Donate shoelaces for refugees along the Texas border

The first opportunity is to donate shoelaces to Sister Anne Connelly, who is part of the Sisters of Mercy and is working at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, to alleviate suffering for refugees being held in detention centers. The Humanitarian Respite Center, which is run by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, offers food, water, toiletries and clothing to refugees. It’s currently serving around 500-700 people per day.

Why are shoelaces so important? When a person crosses the Mexican border and is placed in a detention center, his or her shoelaces are taken away. This makes basic things like walking incredibly difficult, and it’s dehumanizing in the midst of circumstances that are already dehumanizing.

Anyone interested can donate shoelaces and give them to the Center for Community Engagement and Service now until Feb. 14.

Donate shoes to impoverished American youth 

According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, almost 50 percent of children in the U.S. currently live in poverty. With this in mind, there is also an opportunity to donate shoes to impoverished children and youth through the Center for Community Engagement. The shoes will be given to a nonprofit called GiftsToGive.

GiftsToGive’s mission is to help take care of impoverished American youth by offering them basic essentials through generous community donations. Anyone can donate gently-used items like toys, clothing, and books to the warehouse that GiftsToGive operates. These donated items are then organized by volunteers, and hundreds of local agencies and care givers can order online customized packages of items for homeless and at-risk children.

Shoes of all kinds and sizes will be collected and then used in an exhibit during SRyou Day on March 25. Shoes can be dropped off at Gerety Hall, Room 201.

For more questions about either of these opportunities, contact community.services@salve.edu or call (401) 341-2440.