For a while I was trying to think of a literary way to support and/or help publicize relief efforts in Haiti. I have to admit, I was struggling for ideas. I mean, I sent a few donations via text-messaging and by clicking into a Red Cross link I found online, but I wanted to do something more, something related to books.
I considered researching Haitian authors and highlighting a few on the Literally Gems website just to encourage people to read and learn more about the culture. That's still not a bad idea. However, at work the other day a coworker mentioned that she had heard of a local husband and wife team (physicians) who were traveling to Haiti to assist in some of the smaller villages that have not received much help. They had the idea to request donations of old shoes to give to those who were walking barefoot through the streets and risking injury and infection.
Right away, I thought of the box of shoes under my boys' bunk beds. I had prepared to take them to the local Salvation Army, but of course now Haiti sounds like a much better destination. My boys loved these shoes and would still be wearing all of them now if 3 and 5-year-old boys didn't grow out of new shoes every other week. They are too young now to understand what their donation will mean to some other little boys so many miles away, but I hope they will grow into the kind of men that think of others before thinking of themselves.
The shoes are now on their way to an area not mentioned in the news as often as Port-au-Prince. I wish I could do so much more to make a tangible and lasting contribution, and, in some ways, maybe I have. One day, I will be able to pull this photo out again and remind my sons of the small gift they gave to the little feet in Haiti.
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