Crossroads Baptist Church Takes
Kids Shopping for Back-to-School Shoes
August 26, 2009
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| LAKELAND, Fla. – The shoes salesman at Sports Authority in Lakeland is walking as fast as he can from the back of the store with three boxes of shoes under each arm. He sets the various sized shoes down for kids to try on and then quickly turns to another group needing assistance. The store would normally be very quiet during this time of day, but children from the Lakeland campus of the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes have converged on the store to go shoe shopping. This was the scene as all of the kids and house parents were treated to a new pair of athletic shoes by Crossroads Baptist Church in Clearwater. Crossroads Pastor Dave Madasz said that 13 volunteers drove from Clearwater to help with this third year event. “Our church has had a relationship with the Children’s Homes for a long time. This project came about more than three years ago when we were discussing what kinds of things we could do that would be different and special for the kids,” Madasz said. “Our members really enjoy the event. It’s great to see the smiles and to hear the excited voices of the kids as they start looking for that perfect pair of shoes. All of the kids and house parents all get a new pair of shoes and a package of socks. Last year my daughter Melissa insisted that we also purchase shoes for the house parents as well.” Eron Green administrator for the Lakeland campus said that the gifts of shoes are a big help to them as they prepare kids to go back to school. “As many people know we incur a lot of expenses this time of year getting our kids ready to go back to school. This gift of athletic shoes for all of our kids and house parents by Crossroads Baptist these past couple of years has been a real blessing. We are so thankful and appreciative of what they do for us,” Green said. -##- |
