{"id":657286,"date":"2026-03-15T11:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T11:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/657286\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T11:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T11:38:17","slug":"how-buckner-in-dallas-sends-shoes-and-hope-to-worlds-orphans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/657286\/","title":{"rendered":"How Buckner in Dallas sends shoes \u2014 and hope \u2014 to world\u2019s orphans"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Buckner Humanitarian Aid Center in Dallas<\/a>, the sound of generosity<\/a> is not loud.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the soft thud of cardboard boxes being opened, the shuffle of volunteers sorting sneakers by size, the hum of a warehouse that has quietly changed more than five million lives.<\/p>\n

For 26 years, Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls has turned something as ordinary as a pair of shoes into a lifeline for millions. <\/p>\n

What began as a small radio campaign in the mid\u20111990s has grown into one of the longest\u2011running humanitarian programs of its kind, powered not by a massive staff but by a small team and an army of volunteers who believe that dignity can start at the feet.<\/p>\n

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The program\u2019s origins trace back to a Dallas Christian radio station, KCBI, whose general manager visited Russian orphanages and saw children sharing shoes from a basket by the door. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted to serve a few hundred kids,\u201d recalls Shawn Spurrier, director of Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls. \u201cBut the community really responded; they were able to serve a few thousand kids for about five years in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1999, Buckner International took over the effort. Since then, the program has delivered more than five million pairs of shoes to children in 86 countries, including communities in the United States.<\/p>\n

Spurrier still marvels at how the program grew. \u201cIt almost felt like a movement,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople resonated with the simplicity of providing something that isn\u2019t a luxury for us, but is for children throughout the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Carolyn<\/p>\n

Carolyn Griffith of Dallas, a volunteer for Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls program, sorts the donated shoes at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Mesquite. <\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

The gateway effect<\/p>\n

A pair of shoes is not just footwear in the communities Buckner serves. It\u2019s access.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many regions, if you don\u2019t have a pair of shoes, you can\u2019t go to school,\u201d says Steve Watson, Buckner\u2019s director of humanitarian aid. \u201cBut you don\u2019t have the money because you don\u2019t have an education. It\u2019s this vicious cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shoes break that cycle. They also protect children from foot\u2011borne illnesses and tropical diseases that can be catastrophic and entirely preventable.<\/p>\n

But the most powerful impact, Spurrier says, is opportunity.<\/p>\n

He tells the story of Dulce, a young girl in Guatemala whose family was on the brink of losing their home. Her mother wanted to learn to read, and her father struggled with alcoholism and steady work. <\/p>\n

\u201cDulce coming in to receive a pair of shoes was the introduction,\u201d Spurrier says. He recalled how his staff met Dulce\u2019s family and linked them to programs that offered literacy training and job skills \u2014 support that helped them finally break the cycle that had kept them in such a precarious situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know the story a pair of shoes is going to tell\u201d, Spurrier says.<\/p>\n

Even after more than a decade with Buckner, Spurrier still encounters moments that stop him cold. That was the case in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he met Romina, a 7\u2011year\u2011old girl receiving her first new pair of shoes. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey were just basic black school shoes,\u201d he says. \u201cBut she broke down weeping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concerned something was wrong, Spurrier asked the family\u2019s translator what had happened. The truth was far gentler: Romina was overwhelmed that someone had thought of her at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat moved me to tears,\u201d he said, shaking his head. \u201cThat moment reminded me why we do what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Watson, dignity is the heart of the work.<\/p>\n

He remembers a boy in Guatemala who lived in a dump and didn\u2019t attend school because he lacked shoes and proper clothes. <\/p>\n

When the boy approached a distribution event, other children shouted, \u201cYou don\u2019t belong here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watson found a pair of shoes that fit him. \u201cThat\u2019s giving dignity,\u201d he says. \u201cNow he could go to school. Now he belonged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spurrier adds that dignity extends to parents, too. \u201cImagine being a mom who can\u2019t afford shoes for her child\u2019s first day of school,\u201d he says. \u201cProviding that pair of shoes eases a burden. It\u2019s dignity for the whole family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Catherine<\/p>\n

Catherine Bates of Dallas, a volunteer for Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls program, sorts the donated shoes at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Mesquite. <\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Volunteers keep showing up<\/p>\n

Inside the warehouse in Dallas, the heartbeat of the operation is a group of retirees who show up every Wednesday. Among them is Ed Wales, 82, who has been volunteering since 2007.<\/p>\n

His connection to the mission began decades earlier. In 1995, he heard radio station KCBI describe Russian orphans hauling water uphill because their orphanage had no running water. \u201cI was driving to work,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI broke down. I had to pull the car over. My tears were just flowing. I said, \u2018I\u2019m going to be involved in that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Wales, a 20\u2011year Air Force veteran and longtime health care worker, adopted a son in 1973. \u201cI\u2019ve always had a soft spot for orphans,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

He still remembers putting shoes on children in Russia in 1999. \u201cSome were wearing shoes that were just tattered,\u201d he says. \u201cThe light on their faces\u2026 your heart soars.\u201d<\/p>\n

When volunteers come into the warehouse, their job is to process the shoes. They sort every pair by size, type, and gender: athletic, canvas, leather; men\u2019s, women\u2019s, boys\u2019, and girls\u2019. <\/p>\n

They remove all the packaging and tags tucked inside the shoes, then rubber\u2011band each pair together, heel to heel. And before the shoes move on, every single pair receives a handwritten note with a message of hope and encouragement.<\/p>\n

In the middle of the 45,000\u2011square\u2011foot warehouse, tucked between towering stacks of shoeboxes, there is a corner that stops people in their tracks. It\u2019s called the Barefoot Experience, but it feels more like a quiet invitation to step into someone else\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Three wooden boxes sit side by side, each filled with the kind of ground children around the world walk on every day \u2014 dirt packed hard by heat, loose pebbles that bite at the skin, jagged rocks that make every step a calculation. <\/p>\n

These textures come from the places where Buckner delivers new shoes to children who have never owned a pair.<\/p>\n

Volunteers pause, slip off their shoes, and place their feet onto the earth. The shock is immediate. The coldness of the rocks. The sting of the pebbles. <\/p>\n

The uneven ground forces the body to tense with every step. <\/p>\n

For a moment, the warehouse fades, and what remains is the simple, humbling realization of what it means to walk without protection.<\/p>\n

The displays are meant to echo the rugged mountain paths of Ethiopia, Mexico, and Per\u00fa, places where children rise before dawn, walk miles to do their chores, and return home with soles bruised and spirits tested.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalking barefoot across these surfaces is a powerful reminder of what thousands of children endure every single day,\u201d said Spurrier. <\/p>\n

\"Students<\/p>\n

Students from Ruth Cherry Elementary School in Royse City, Texas, step onto the soil without shoes at the \u201cBarefoot Experience\u201d at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Mesquite, after their volunteer works for Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls program.<\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

A small team, a big impact<\/p>\n

Despite its global reach, the Buckner Humanitarian Aid Center operates with just 17 staff members: 10 on the humanitarian aid team and three on the shoes team. The rest is powered by 6,000 to 8,000 volunteers a year.<\/p>\n

Last year alone, Buckner shipped 133,000 pairs of shoes to children in Texas and around the world. About 40% of all shoes go to Latin America.<\/p>\n

Shoes arrive through church drives, civic groups, manufacturers, and donors across the country. <\/p>\n

Watson explains that giving a child a pair of shoes is often the first doorway into a family\u2019s life. <\/p>\n

When their team ships a container of shoes, they also include school supplies, food, and other essentials because the goal is to care for the whole person, not just one need.<\/p>\n

A simple pair of shoes can unlock so much more. In many communities, children aren\u2019t allowed to attend school without them. <\/p>\n

But families often can\u2019t afford shoes precisely because they lack education and job opportunities, a cycle that, according to Watson, repeats itself generation after generation.<\/p>\n

By providing shoes and school supplies, Buckner helps remove that first barrier so a child can go to school. And once that connection is made, families are invited into the Family Hope Center programs, where parents can access job\u2011skills training, parenting classes, cooking classes and other resources that strengthen the entire household.<\/p>\n

In that sense, a pair of shoes doesn\u2019t just protect a child\u2019s feet; it can open up an entirely new world for the whole family.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod uses ordinary people and ordinary means to love and serve his world,\u201d Spurrier said. \u201cA pair of shoes is ordinary. But what it leads to can be profound.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the Buckner Humanitarian Aid Center in Dallas, the sound of generosity is not loud. It\u2019s the soft…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":657287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,17667,1596,407,21678,68910,256,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,103],"class_list":["post-657286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-america","tag-childrens-health","tag-dallas","tag-education","tag-equity","tag-inspired","tag-philanthropy","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-world"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116232998524345941","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}