It started with an announcement in a local newspaper. A small United Methodist church in Sodus, Michigan, was asking for shoe donations to support its missions fundraiser.
Esther Knott, an elder at Pioneer Memorial Church and assistant to the president for Missions and Culture at Andrews University, read the appeal and saw an opportunity. Here was a chance for people to clear out their closets while giving the church and campus community a simple way to continue serving and giving.
Chapel Hill United Methodist Church had set an ambitious goal of collecting 2,500 pairs of shoes. With 124 members on its books, an average attendance of 50 to 60 and 26 members who are homebound or in nursing homes, reaching that number seemed daunting.
Pioneer Memorial Church, meanwhile, has almost 4,000 members. Knott figured they could help.
When she contacted Mollie Logan, Chapel Hill’s administrative assistant and treasurer, Logan admitted she thought reaching the goal would be nearly impossible. Knott assured her she had hundreds of friends who would be willing to pitch in.
That conversation sparked a partnership between two denominations and neighboring communities. By the time the drive concluded July 15, the combined effort had collected 2,629 pairs of shoes, exceeding the original goal. Of those, 842 pairs came through the Berrien Springs community’s participation.
“We want to thank you and your community for the 842 pairs that we donated to our mission,” Logan said. “You are all a blessing. It would have been difficult to reach our goal of 2,500 pairs. With your help, we exceeded our expectations.”
A Community Connection
For Knott, the project aligned with Andrews University President John Wesley Taylor V’s desire to strengthen the university’s connections with surrounding communities.
Through a coordinated Adventist effort, collection boxes were placed at Pioneer Memorial Church, Andrews University Campus Ministries and the James White Library. Village Hardware in downtown Berrien Springs also became a central collection point, thanks to Adventist owner Garren Dent.
The response extended beyond church members and university employees.
Knott recalled a story Dent shared about a couple who learned about the shoe drive. When the husband suggested his wife donate some of her shoes, she admitted she liked them too much to part with them. Instead, she visited Neighbor to Neighbor, purchased a large box of shoes and delivered them to Village Hardware.
Shoes With a Purpose
The donated shoes, ranging from children’s footwear to work boots and athletic shoes, will be distributed through Funds2Orgs, an organization that partners with churches and nonprofits to collect gently worn and new shoes.
The organization provides financial compensation based on the weight of the shoes collected. It then distributes the footwear through a network of small-business partners in developing countries, where micro-entrepreneurs sell the shoes to generate income and support their families. Countries include Botswana, Cambodia, Chile, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Poland and Ukraine.
For Chapel Hill, the drive raised funds for church missions and operations while providing economic opportunities for families overseas. It also kept usable shoes out of landfills.
United in Mission
Although Chapel Hill and Pioneer Memorial Church represent different Christian denominations, their mutual commitment to service brought them together.
Logan expressed appreciation for the willingness of the Adventist community to support a neighboring congregation’s mission: “Even if our beliefs are not the same, the goal should still be missions.”
Adapted from July 8, 2026 “Journal Era”
Photos provided by the Journal Era