Rising sixth graders Kate Hoffman (right) and Julia Desroches fit a child with her new athletic shoes. (Christina Ritchie Rogers / DavidsonNews.net)

By CHRISTINA RITCHIE ROGERS
DavidsonNews.net

The line for back-to-school shoes formed early Saturday morning and soon wrapped around the building at the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson. The nonprofit group Samaritan’s Feet, together with volunteers from four local churches, gathered at the center to provide new athletic shoes and socks to children and to wash their feet. Read the full story

Volunteers from area churches will wash feet and fit children and youth for new shoes this Saturday, Aug. 11, at Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson. The nonprofit Samaritan’s Feet has organized the event for kids from birth to age 18. It runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson. Read the full story

Bill McCoy of Davidson helps fit shoes on a girl during the 2011 shoe giveaway. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Samaritan’s Feet will be giving away shoes to children and youth from birth to age 18 on Saturday, Aug. 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson.

Shoes will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis, while sizes last.  No pre-registration is required. Read the full story

Manny Ohonme, founder of Samaritan's Feet, talks to volunteers at Ada Jenkins Center Saturday. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Manny Ohonme looked out across the Ada Jenkins Center gym Saturday morning and nodded approvingly. Volunteers were washing feet and fitting new shoes on needy children in the center’s second annual shoe giveaway, sponsored by Mr. Ohonme’s nonprofit Samaritan’s Feet. Outside hundreds waited their turn.

“I was the product of someone else’s generosity 30 years ago,” he said. “This has inspired me.” Read the full story

The Ada Jenkins Center and Samaritan’s Feet will give away 400 pairs of new athletic shoes to children through age 17 Saturday. The event begins at 10 a.m. at Ada Jenkins gym, 212 Gamble St., Davidson. Organizers said Monday that pre-registration has reached its limit.
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Volunteers from local congregations including St. Alban’s Episcopal Church and Davidson United Methodist Church will start raising money this month to help buy back-to-school shoes for needy area families.

They’ll be manning a booth Saturday, June 18, at the Davidson Farmers Market for the “Count your shoes so they can count on shoes” drive. Read the full story

Ernest Jeffries

Gethsemane Baptist Church in Davidson will celebrate the 7th anniversary of the tenure of Pastor Ernest Jeffries with a service on Sunday, June 12. Meanwhile, the church also is offering a series of free parenting sessions for pregnant women or mothers with children under 2. And local church volunteers are collecting money to pay for an August back-to-school shoe distribution for needy families at Ada Jenkins Center. Read the full story

Volunteer Andy Cranes washes the feet of a child named Maria before she gets her new shoes. (Cathryn Westra/DavidsonNews.net)

By CATHRYN WESTRA
DavidsonNews.net

About 1,000 little (and not so little) feet walked out of the Ada Jenkins Center on Gamble Street Saturday washed and fitted with brand new shoes. The feet belonged to needy children in the Lake Norman area who received the shoes through the Charlotte-based nonprofit Samaritan’s Feet. Some of the shoes had been collected at a “Shoes of Hope” drive held last month at Davidson Farmer’s Market.

Read the full story