by Lauren McGuire, Student Public Relations Writer
For the second consecutive year, Cedarville University nursing students will partner with Shoes 4 the Shoeless, a nonprofit ministry that distributes new shoes and socks to children, to assist impoverished youth in the Miami Valley.
According to Shoes 4 the Shoeless website, 40.9% of children in Montgomery County live in poverty and do not own proper shoes. Shoes 4 the Shoeless seeks to ensure that no child endures physical or emotional distress that transpires from wearing inadequate socks and shoes.
The Cedarville School of Nursing will volunteer at four Springfield schools —— Snowhill Elementary on November 22, Warder Park-Wayne Elementary on December 13, School of Innovation on December 17 and Horace Mann Elementary on December 20. The nursing students will arrive at 8:30 a.m. and work with the children till 11:30 a.m., measuring and fitting the children’s feet with the proper shoe size.
— Kristina Petersen
“This ministry is so important because we get to fulfill a physical need in a child’s life as well as an emotional and spiritual need,” said Kristina Petersen, a Cedarville nursing student.
This campaign is aimed not only at providing an impoverished child with new shoes, but also making sure the child feels loved and cherished, Petersen said. Many of the children come in with “talking shoes,” which means the sole is disconnected from the upper, mimicking the appearance of mouth opening. Volunteers must physically get down on their hands and knees to serve these children, making sure each one is the center of their attention while they measure and fit them with shoes.
“I have seen quite a few children who have had the wrong size shoes, and several who come in with winter boots or sandals on and say that they are the only pair of shoes they have,” Petersen said. “It’s heartbreaking to see a child without a necessity that so many of us take for granted.”
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,380 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including the Bachelor of Science in Nursing, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and high student engagement ranking. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.