RICHMOND, Va. β Two hundred kids in the Belt Atlantic Apartment community are going home to a brand-new pair of shoes thanks to the efforts of a Richmond church.
The New Life Deliverance Tabernacle, located on 900 Decatur Street on the Southside, chose the Belt Atlantic community as the beneficiary of the donation because of their ministry efforts to meet the needs of Richmond youth and their families.
"We actually call this our second location: The New Life at the Belt," Phyllis Alexander with New Life said. "They were Nikes, Reeboks, Jordans, Shaq shoes and they were donated to us by Grow Your World."
Grow Your World is a youth-led community engagement and development program for elementary and middle schoolers, which is based out of Carrboro, North Carolina, and Atlanta.
Shawn Sims, who works with the program, helped organize and distribute shoes during Friday's donation.
"We were blessed with the opportunity to receive 500 sneakers this year and so we looked for community partners to help get those to people who actually needed them," Sims said. "Somebody contacted us from right here in this community and we were like, 'We need a place to go and this sounds as good as any.' So we decided to go."
Sims says Grow Your World received the shoes thanks to a partnership with the nonprofit ministry known as Soles 4 Souls, which collects shoes and clothing items from community donations, drives and retailers to support other programs that help people in need.
"When this shipment of shoes came in and we noticed the quality that they were, we were out of mind to know that we could give these types of shoes to a kid," said Sims. "If I was a kid and I got a pair of Nike Lebrons given to me, I would be on the top of the world, to be honest."
"I think the church is the community and the community is the church, so I think it's incumbent upon us to do all that we can to assist others," New Life Pastor Robert Winfree said. "We've got some families who have eight or nine kids in one family, and to be able to accommodate all of them if not half of them, that's a big load off of their shoulders."
The donation lasted from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Each family was allowed one pair of shoes for each of their children in their size until the shoes ran out. Parents who picked up the shoes were also asked to fill out a survey so that the church and the nonprofit could keep track of how many shoes were donated as well as direct other resources to those in need.
A clothing rack was also put out for adults, where they could take one free article of clothing that they need while they wait to pick up shoes for their children.
"This is a way for us to evangelize in more than one way. We have an after-school program and some of the people who are out here don't know anything about it," Winfree said. "Our goal is very dualistic because it's more than evangelizing people to Christ, but to be able to accommodate those people with education, finances, and clothing. This is trying to help where help is needed."
Xavia Rapholtz says he picked up several pairs of shoes for his sons. He says he plans to attend New Life after seeing the work they did in the Belt Atlantic Apartments.
"I have three sons, and we could definitely use all the assistance we can get; they grow so fast," Rapholtz said. "I'm just grateful for everyone who is doing their part to help the community and taking the extra step to be kind to each other. It's beautiful."
"They're already going fast, so the need is greater than the demand, so we're just happy that we could bring 200 pairs of shoes and give those out," Sims said, "It's an outward extension of an inward desire to serve."
"My biggest things are that after God has strengthened us, we need to reach back and strengthen our brothers and sisters who've been left to and left behind," Winfree said.
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