Last fall, our School of Nursing students began partnering with a local ministry called Shoes for the Shoeless, an organization that provides shoes for kids who are in need. Our students were blessed as they blessed others. Listen to the testimonies of two of the volunteers:
Matthew 25:40, “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,] you did it to me.’” (ESV).
Matthias Campion, ’19
Shoes for the Shoeless is a faith-based, nonprofit organization that seeks to provide new socks and gym shoes to local children in need. Kris Horlacher, the executive director for Shoes for the Shoeless, stated that new, properly fitting shoes and socks were the greatest unmet need facing children in the Dayton area. They used to work exclusively in the Dayton area, but this year they took a chance and decided to come to the Springfield City School District. This leap of faith opened the door for the most moving volunteer experience I have ever participated in.
This opportunity was first brought to my attention by Dr. Mickle. She reached out to me and convinced me to organize a group of nursing students to go and serve with this organization. Shoes for the Shoeless made sure to go to every elementary school in the Springfield School District. We, along with the other volunteers, would first measure the child’s foot, ask for their top three favorite colors, and then get them new socks and shoes based off of their shoe size and favorite colors. Each child would receive two or three pairs of clean, new socks (or more if they expressed a need for socks), and each child would receive one new pair of shoes. After each child was fitted and wearing their new shoes, we would encourage them to run, jump, and chase us around the gym. This was my favorite part of the morning, because they would be beaming with joy as they raced around the gym. We would fit 300-500 children with new shoes any given week. It was powerful serving these children and watching them rejoice as they got their new shoes. It is an experience I am grateful and thankful to have been a part of, and it is opportunities like these that make Cedarville stand out.
Dan Graeff ’21
This year, Cedarville University nursing students have had the incredible opportunity to serve those in the community by partnering with a local nonprofit organization called Shoes 4 the Shoeless. Shoes 4 the Shoeless was started by a former RN named Kris Horlacher, with the goal of meeting the biggest unmet need of school-age children in the Dayton area: properly fitting shoes. The Shoes 4 the Shoeless website notes that since 2010, “Shoes 4 the Shoeless has delivered well over 75,000 pairs of shoes and socks to disadvantaged children within the Dayton, Ohio, region.” Delivering this many shoes requires an army of volunteers. This is where Cedarville’s School of Nursing came in. For 10 weeks, Cedarville nursing students led by nursing faculty and Cedarvilles’s male nursing org, AIA, volunteered their Friday mornings to help Shoes 4 the Shoeless distribute shoes to children at elementary schools in Springfield, Ohio.
I had the privilege of volunteering several of the Friday mornings. It was a powerful experience. Cedarville students, along with volunteers from churches, sports teams, and health clinics, would gather together in the gyms of Springfield elementary schools to serve the underprivileged children of their community. The school kids would line up outside the gym doors. When it was their turn, a volunteer would introduce themselves, take the child’s hand, and lead them to one of the many chairs lining the walls of the gym. The volunteer would then proceed to kneel beside the child, remove their old shoes and socks, and replace them with new socks and shoes of the appropriate size. To test the fit and comfort of the shoes, the child and volunteer would run together across the gym. It was a joy to watch the children’s faces light up as they raced across the gym in their new, properly fitting shoes. Volunteering for Shoes 4 the Shoeless was an incredible opportunity to show God’s love to children who very likely received very little affection or attention in their normal lives. This simple yet meaningful act of service toward underprivileged children allowed Cedarville students to reflect the ultimate servant: Jesus Christ.