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Sole Hope Shoe Cutting Party
This week we hosted our second Sole Hope shoe cutting party at my church.
In a nutshell here is how it works: you get a bunch of people together to trace and cut out fabric for shoes, you ship it to Sole Hope and from there they get it to Uganda where they employ locals to make the shoes and then they give these very shoes to kids in need. So you are helping give someone a job as well as protecting the feet of children from many foot diseases. Win win!
About Sole Hope (from their site):
Sole Hope exists to offer HOPE, healthier lives and freedom from foot related diseases through education, jobs and medical relief. By doing this, adults who need work get paid by Sole Hope to make the Sole Hope shoe for children in villages in the Busoga region. By not wearing closed-toed shoes, children and adults alike are becoming ill due to diseases (specifically a parasite called jiggers) that enter through the feet and rob the body of the little nutrition it has. This can also cause secondary infections like tetanus and gangrene. Many lose their childhood to this parasite and others are unable to attend school because their feet have been so badly mutilated by jiggers.
Last April I had a small shoe cutting party at my house and we were able to cut out fabric for 50 pairs of shoes, then about a month later we had another party, this time at my church and we got enough cut out for 100 pairs of shoes.
On Monday evening we hosted our second party at the church and while we still haven’t assembled all the pairs of shoes (as you can see in the photo above) we have tons of fabric cut. Some of the ladies took patterns home last year and have been cutting fabric out since!
I’m planning on having a mini party at my house just to do some assembling (just pinning the fabric together so we can send it down to the States) and then we should know how many pairs we have.
A shoe cutting party is a great way to make a tangible difference! One of the things that I loved is how many older women from our church have come out and have been such active participants.
If you are interested in hosting a party I would highly recommend it (you can check out some of my tips for hosting from last year), you can purchase your party pack here.
I took my camera this year and had hoped to take lots of photos but I got caught up in all of it and totally forgot and only took that photo at the beginning of the post right at the end after almost everyone was gone. Next time I’ll be sure to take more photos!
Have you ever hosted a Sole Hope party before? Or are you interested in having one in the future? I’d love to hear about it!
I got this photo of my Grandma at last year’s party (she wasn’t feeling good enough to come this year), I just love this picture!
22 Comments
Esther
What a brilliant thing to do! I’ve never heard of Sole hope but that is so enterprising. Brilliant stuff 🙂
Esther x
Chantel Klassen
Yes, the founders were brilliants, it’s great to have such a tangible way to help!
Robyn Black
i’ve never heard of it before but that is such a cool idea!!!!
Chantel Klassen
Oh you definitely need to look into it, it’s so easy!
Caroline
I’ve never heard of this, but what a sweet idea! Thanks for sharing
Chantel Klassen
No problem! It’s such an easy thing to do to make a difference in a child’s life!
Amanda Jaynes
Wow, this is awesome! I’ve never heard of Sole Hope but I will definitely be checking it out. Thank you for sharing!
Chantel Klassen
For sure, they are an excellent organization!
Caitlin | The Siren's Tale
What an amazing cause! I’m going to look more into Sole Hope 🙂
Chantel Klassen
Definitely, having a party is so easy, you should definitely do it!
Samantha@Elah Tree
You did a shoe cutting party! That is awesome! I learned about Sole Hope in the fall. What a great organization!
Chantel Klassen
Yes, the ladies in the area love it, it’s such a tangible way to make a difference! Have you had or been to a party?
Alyssa
Lately I’ve been seeing Sole Hope everywhere!!! I would love to have a Sole Hope party.. I mighhhhhht have to look into this further 🙂
Chantel Klassen
Yes! Like I mentioned in the post, this is my third time having a party, it’s always well attended (even when the weather is -40!) the ladies love helping out. You should definitely have a party!
Fiona Merrild
What a fantastic way to make a difference!
Chantel Klassen
Yes, and they send them down to Uganda, so they end up not that far from you!
Rachel G
I went to a shoe cutting party at the Influence Conference last fall–it’s so cool to hear about what that organization is accomplishing!
Chantel Klassen
Yes, they are so amazing! I love being able to help organizations like this one. Do you plan on hosting a party in the future?
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom
This is so amazing! I have never heard of this before but I would love to host a shoe cutting party of my own.
Thanks for sharing.
xoxo
Chantel Klassen
You definitely should! It’s easy to do and can make such a difference!
Susannah
Wow! What an awesome way to minister to the children in Uganda! I’ll have to look into hosting a party of my own!!! Thanks for linking this up with the Faith and Fellowship blog hop!
Chantel Klassen
Yes, you definitely should! It’s such a great way to help out!