Shoes for Haiti make big impact, fill ‘extreme’ need

PORT AU PRINCE (FBC)—Compliments of Florida Baptists, 4,200 pairs of shoes, 2,000 pants and 2,000 shirts—packed in 169 boxes— arrived April 3 in flood-ravaged Haiti.

The clothing items were then distributed to Haitians living in two remote southern regions which were hardest hit after flood waters caused by Tropical Storm Noel swept away homes and personal belongings this past fall.

The pants and shirts were purchased with funds provided by Florida Baptists who responded to the urgent needs of the Haitians. Immediately after the storm, 133,563 pounds of rice had been issued through four massive food distributions to 8,620 families, feeding 119,820 persons.

Jim Tatum, a Jacksonville clothier and member of First Baptist Church, arranged the purchase of the clothing, which was sorted and packed in boxes by members of his Sunday School class.

The shoes were collected by Florida Baptist Convention employees and First Baptist Church of Jacksonville members who opened their closets in response to a “shoe drive” issued by Convention Executive Director John Sullivan. Thousands of shoes were collected during a three-week time period.

Craig Culbreth, director of the Convention’s Partnership Missions Department, spoke to Pierre Etienne, director of ministry for the Confraternite’ Missionaire Baptiste d’Haiti (CMBH), after the items of clothing were distributed. “They were well received,” he reported, and many “ran off in their new shoes.”

On hand to unpack the boxes were volunteers from Yulee Baptist Church in Northeast Florida who were concluding a mission trip to the Caribbean nation.

“It was really exciting to see that many donations and realize that so many people cared that much,” said 16-year-old Brooke Schmidt, who participated on the trip. “The needs in Haiti are extreme. There is a lot of poverty and they have so much less than we do. It’s good for people to care.”