Posted by Larry A. Lunsford on Mar 07, 2019
The 18th annual “shoes season” is off and running.  We are two months away from the Shoes Caravan (April 25-27), and Caravan Driver John Gill and I have developed a tentative Shoes Caravan schedule.   
 
Both UPS and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway have again agreed to assist us with the transport of your shoes to Dallas, to be prepared for international shipment.  Our UPS truck drivers, Patrick and Roger, will be with us again.
 
It was a resounding consensus at our fall 2018 District Conference to send our shoes this year to KENYA, along with some distribution in the UNITED STATES.
 
We will have our annual SHOES ROLL CALL OF CLUBS on April 27th at the District Assembly in Cameron.  Our plan is to have the “John Gill trailer” at the District Assembly…with our traditional Shoes Caravan to precede with a few stops on Wednesday, April 24, then full days on Thursday, April 25, and Friday, April 26, culminating at the District Assembly in Cameron on Saturday, April 27th.
 
 
This year in 2019, my theme for our clubs is to collect shoes “at an all-time high collections pace”. 
 
In 2018, both the Higginsville Rotary Club and the Lathrop Rotary Club  collected more pairs of shoes that in any other year over their history of supporting our project.  They set “all-time highs” for their clubs.
In 2017, the Lawson, Lee’s Summit Downtown, Raytown, Saint Joseph South Side, and Waldo-Brookside clubs set “all-time highs” for their clubs.
In 2016, the Kirksville-North Star, North Kansas City, Princeton, and Unionville clubs set “all-time highs” for their clubs.
In 2015, the Kansas City Plaza and Macon County clubs set “all-time highs” for their clubs.
 
Will this be your club in 2019?  This is my goal for you.
 
I hope you are finding the “promotional packets” (sent each year from Dallas by our partner organization, Buckner Orphan Care International) to be a valuable resource in your clubs.  I encourage you to get your high schools involved, local churches, Interact Clubs, Rotaract Clubs, etc.  The full Family of Rotary.
 
Also, please let me know if there is a new “shoes chair” in your club, who should also receive these emails.
    
With the help of your Rotarians, I am fully expecting to exceed a collective total of 335,000 pairs this year in our 18th year!
 
Let me know how I can help you, and I will look forward to seeing you on the Caravan route, or in Cameron at the District Assembly on Saturday, April 27th.
 
Thank you for your great work through Rotary, and have fun collecting new shoes for orphans.  I look forward to seeing you in late April.  Just look for the yellow Rotary hat.
 
Cheerleader Larry Lunsford, District 6040 Shoes for Orphan Souls Chair
Kansas City Plaza Rotary Club