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Community Corner

House of Mercy Launches Shoe Drive to Benefit Children in Need

MANASSAS, Va. – During its “No Shoes/New Shoes” program, now underway, the local nonprofit humanitarian organization the House of Mercy is asking for donations of new shoes for school-age children in need.

Under the program, in its fourth year, the agency gives new shoes in time for the school year to children of its clients, who earn low income and cannot afford to buy new shoes, said House of Mercy Executive Director Ann Cimini.

“Shoes are very important socially in schools beginning as early as third grade. Kids wearing ill-fitting or dilapidated shoes are often ridiculed by their peers,” she said. The agency is requesting new pairs of school-appropriate shoes for kids ages 5 to 17.

As part of the program, which ends Aug. 22, House of Mercy has placed donation collection boxes in schools and businesses throughout Manassas and Gainesville, including M&T Bank’s Manassas branch, a program partner, Cimini said. Donation sites include several area gyms, Nationwide Insurance on Ambassador Drive in Manassas and Giant Food on Linton Hall Road in Gainesville.

House of Mercy’s program goal is to receive 500 pairs of shoes, Cimini said. The agency will donate any surplus to other local aid organizations.

House of Mercy also accepts gift cards, checks and cash donations during the program, she said. “We work with local area shoe stores that can give us good buys to make the cash and card donations we get go farther,” said Cimini.

Cash donations can be made at the House of Mercy, located at 8170 Flannery Court in Manassas. Gift cards and checks can be mailed or dropped off at the agency. Cimini asks donors to not place these types of donations in program collection boxes.

To qualify to receive shoes under the program, House of Mercy clients must have completed this year through June 30 at least one of the agency’s free community classes, which cover such topics as ESL (English as a Second Language), beginning money management, parenting, nutrition, exercise, job search techniques and training to complete the math portion of GED exams, Cimini said.
 
“We want to make sure the parents who take a class are rewarded,” Cimini explained. If it receives enough program donations, the organization may also give shoes based on need to some of its new clients who registered after June 30 as clients of House of Mercy and who complete at least one class before the agency distributes shoes in August, she said. 

“The money management, parenting skills and motivation classes are all available in DVD format. So clients may take classes at a time that works around their schedules,” she said.

For more information about the House of Mercy and its “No Shoes/New Shoes” program, email help@houseofmercyva.org or call 703-659-1636.

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