Buckner Care Seeks Donations to Cover Missions Success
DALLAS, Texas -- Buckner Orphan Care International seeks $100,000 in donations to cover for their unprecedented success in collecting shoes and socks for orphan children worldwide.
According to Tiffany Taylor, director of the Shoes for Orphan Souls project, more than 220,000 pairs of new shoes have come to Buckner in 2003, leaving the organization strapped for cash to ship the shoes, socks and shoelaces.
"We were hoping for 150,000 new shoes," says Taylor. "So in some ways, we're suffering from our own success."
While Buckner has received donations throughout the shoe collection period for the purchase of new shoes, the number of donated shoes far outpaced cash donations designated to cover shipping.
"We're fortunate to have wonderful volunteers who sort the shoes and prepare them for shipping," she says. "So we don't have to worry about costs related to that part of the process."
Taylor added that because Buckner hopes to distribute the shoes before winter in places like Russia and Romania, "there is a sense of urgency that we ship these shoes as soon as possible, so we need the funds immediately."