shoes for haiti

  • By Tami Lange Mosser
  • October 21, 2013
  • 427
                        
It’s no secret, girls like shoes. And Rachel Amstutz, who’s only 10, really loves shoes. Over the past two years, she has collected literally thousands of pairs of shoes of all kinds. But these shoes aren’t for her. These boxes and boxes and bags and bags and pallets and pallets of shoes are headed to Haiti, where, for many people, owning one pair of shoes is a luxury. Rachel, with the help of her parents, has begun the not-for-profit organization Kids to Kids Around the World. The thought behind it, her mother, Jina, said, is that children in the U.S. can partner to create projects that serve the needs of children around the world. This comes as no surprise to her mother, who said Rachel – who has a 14-year-old brother and who is very close to her 3-year-old twin cousins, “does have a heart for children.” Rachel is starting with Haiti, where her mother went on a service project while she was still a student at Goshen College. After the earthquake that struck Haiti early in 2010, Jina Amstutz decided to return there. She did not arrive until six months after the quake, but said even after six months, “they were just still removing rubble with buckets.” The photos she sent to her family outside Kidron really moved Rachel, now a fourth grader at Central Christian School. “I thought if people had so much rubble and broken stuff,” she said, they would need shoes to keep from hurting their feet. So, she took it upon herself to help meet the need. For the past two years, Rachel has asked family and friends to forego birthday presents for her, in lieu of giving her shoes to send to Haiti. Recently, her mother said, 17 of her classmates got together for a shoe packing party at their house. Word got around – schools volunteered shoes and money and helping hands. Her grandparents and cousins have donated to the cause and helped load and unload boxes. As of last month, Rachel has collected 1,790 pairs of shoes – new and gently used, for men, women and children. A total of 800 have been shipped, her mother said, with the help of Christian Aid Ministries, which is headquartered in Berlin. The organization handled the moving of the shoes to its distribution center in Ephrata, Pa. – all made possible through the funds Rachel’s organization raised. Next time, she said, she’s going along. On Nov. 21, “we’re going to give out shoes to orphanages and schools,” Rachel said. Her mother, brother and a Haitian friend will accompany her – and all the shoes they can carry -- to Haiti, where they will meet with Jean Claude Etienne, a Haitian pastor the Amstutz family met while he was in this area. He also is affiliated Loving Hearts Children’s Home, an orphanage in the rural area outside Port-au-Prince, and has helped to store shoes from the first shipment. Another part of Rachel’s service has been to pack and ship school kits -- crayons, notebooks, pencils, pencil sharpeners, eraser, scissors and school bags -- for the children. Her classmates and friends think what she is doing is a great idea. To keep them updated, her mother said, Rachel will be Skyping with her classmates from Haiti. She has received requests from no fewer than 35 ministries in Haiti in need of shoes, including those who don’t typically see shipments from their nation’s capital. So, in 2014, Jina Amstutz said, they’ve already reserved space to ship 2,400 pairs. It is a lot of work and Rachel said, “Sometimes, I get kind of tired. There are so many shoes to count.” And it’s not as though she doesn’t share a number of other interests more common to her peers. There’s soccer, voice lessons, violin lessons and, she said, even watching a little television. But, she said, “You just have to make the time. … You have to spend your time wisely.” None of this comes as much of a surprise to Jina Amstutz, who has always known her daughter to have a caring soul. “She continues to stay focused on the project,” Jina Amstutz said. “She hasn’t lost interest. She hasn’t lost focus. That’s the sincerity of her heart – from a 10 year old.” Rachel is already planning way ahead. After graduation, she said, “I’m going to travel around the world as a missionary, kind of helping anyone in need,” she said. “God was basically calling me to be a missionary.” Rachel Amstutz will have a booth at the One-Stop Christmas Shop on Nov. 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Buckeye Event Center in Dalton. All proceeds from the sales of Haitian jewelry and homemade soaps will benefit her organization. She also will accept donations at that time. For more information, contact her at P.O. Box 124, Orrville, OH 44667 or call Jina Amstutz at 330-465-0117.


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