Local church provides 470 students with shoes at Price Elementary

The students at Price Elementary got an unexpected surprise on Thursday, Dec. 19, when members of Destiny Church came to give them an early Christmas gift; new shoes. The church, in partnership with One Sole Purpose, a Springfield-based initiative, brought shoes for all of the school’s 470 students. A volunteer dressed as Santa Claus actually handed out the shoes to the kids, while the other volunteers helped the kids try their new shoes and size them.
This is the third year Destiny Church had distributed shoes to Republic students. Rob Buchanan, with the church, said the shoes are a way to “really make an impact on kids’ lives.”
“We saw it as a way to show a tangible benefit to kids, that they can see, feel, touch and just experience that someone cares about them and the love of Christ,” he said.
Buchanan said it was important that every child receive a pair of shoes.
“We found that it was important to show every kid that they mattered, and we didn’t want to exclude some for any specific reason,” he said. “We also thought that this also presented a more unified approach to everybody, so that everybody got something today and went home with a gift.”
The shoes were not given out at random. Each child received a pair which had been selected for them, based on shoe size and color preference. The students were sized for the shoes in October as part of a fictional survey.
“Back in October, we came and had a sizing day,” he said. “At that time, we told all the kids we were going to do just a survey, to see what size shoe kids wear, and if they had a choice of a color, what would they want. We were able to size all the kids, specific to their size.”
Fifth-grader Mara Becker, 11, said she “very much liked” her new shoes, and planned to wear them “when I’m going in places.”
Quinn Vincent, 10, said she thought her new shoes were “really great,” and she would probably be able to wear them for quite a while.
“They leave me enough room to grow in, and they’re very comfortable.” She added she would use them for “PE, and playing around with my friends.”
Shamon Johnson, 11, said he planned to take good care of his shoes, and only wear them “25-percent of the time.”
“I’ll probably wear them awhile, but not that much,” he said.