This year's Community Prayer Breakfast is Wednesday, October 7th at Sand Creek Country Club. Keynote speaker Mona Purdy, founder of Share You Soles will share her inspiring story. In 1999, when Mona first traveled through Central America and saw children painting tar on the soles of their bare feet so they could run a race during their village's festival, she was shocked to learn they'd never owned a pair of shoes. It was really very simple. When she got home, she collected some shoes and took them to an orphanage in Honduras. She figured she'd done a good deed and that her work was done. When she was about to leave, one of the workers at the orphanage asked, "When are you coming back?" The question changed Mona's life. She returned to the U.S. and the real task began. Mona began collecting shoes and soliciting the help of volunteers to supply shoes around the world.
After assisting thousands of victims in the South Pacific who had been devastated by the deadly tsunami, Share Your Soles was among the first volunteer organizations to reach victims of Hurricane Katrina. Within a day of the levees' breaking in New Orleans, Purdy and her volunteers had already delivered some 14,000 pairs of shoes to the ravaged region.
"It's the most amazing thing," she says. "Giving is about kindness. It's such a simple thing, and you get so much back." Prayer Breakfast attendees are being asking to bring gently worn shoes in good condition or new shoes of any kind to the event to donate. They'll be going to people who may have never even owned a pair of shoes.
Tickets are selling quickly for this year's event. The cost is $20 per person or $160 per table of eight. Tickets are available at Anton Insurance, Duneland Chamber of Commerce, Duneland Family YMCA and the Duneland Resale in Chesterton and Anton Insurance in Valparaiso. The doors will open at 7:00am. Breakfast starts promptly at 7:30am with a goal for the event to conclude at 9:00am. Please plan to arrive and be seated by 7:20am. For more information, call Anton Insurance, (219) 926-8681.