Youth group’s first service project is good for the sole

Following the footsteps of Jesus, a piece of Manatee County’s servitude will reach more than 7,000 miles away.

Through the project called Sole Hope, the 120-member youth group at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church is collecting used denim jeans to be sewed into shoes for children in Jinja, Uganda.

According to its website, the North Carolina-based Sole Hope says it’s not a registered religious organization, but they try to serve like Jesus did and they say every decision they make is backed by prayer.

Without shoes in Uganda, director of youth ministry LeAnne McKendree said that children in that region are most likely to be afflicted with jiggers — tiny fleas that burrow under the skin and lay eggs, infecting the skin.

On Oct. 1 and 2, the youth group will be collecting jeans to later be cut into patterns provided by Sole Hope, to be sent to the organization’s headquarters in North Carolina and then on to tailors based in Uganda. After the children’s feet are cleaned and medically treated as needed, the shoes will decrease the chance of getting this disease.

“It’s kind of two-fold because we’re not only helping the kids within our community by peer mentoring, but we’re also helping kids in another country,” McKendree said.

Although the youth group is going into its third year, this is the first year that they are using the leadership of 20 juniors and seniors to organize service projects for the whole group. The director thought that this project was simple enough for such a large group to get started with.

“This was something tangible that they could put their hands on,” she said.

One-year youth group member Mathew DiLorezo, 16, said that he thought the project was a step in the right direction toward getting more involved with the church.

“I thought that it’d be a good way to give back to people in need,” he said.

Brothers Justin and Kyle Grejda, 17, who have been involved with the youth group for two years, said they had participated in service projects before, like raising money to help send their friend to a camp. Justin said helping a friend made him feel good.

“He’s been thanking us since eighth grade,” Justin said.

The youth group is also collecting drawstring bags and making Christmas cards to send to children in Kenya. McKendree said that one of the parishioners visited a Kenyan orphanage and gave a child a drawstring bag, but felt bad that they didn’t have enough for the 90 other children. Most of the children don’t have anything to carry their belongings in, she said.

McKendree added that their faith teaches them to support the community and other people. With a newly installed series of service projects headed by the youth group, it will do just that.

“Personally, we think the youth group has changed not only our lives, but our spiritual lives as well,” Justin said.

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Youth group’s first service project is good for the sole."