By Traci Tavares
Special to the HERALD
(From the issue of 4/8/04)

As economic strife continues in Eastern Europe, orphanages in these countries struggle to meet the physical needs of their young charges as they hope and wait for families to take them in. Hilary Anderson, a second grade teacher at St. Timothy School in Chantilly, has seen firsthand how financial hardship in the Republic of Latvia bears on the poorest of its children. She and her husband are the adoptive parents of two Latvian boys — 12-year-old George and 5-year-old Artie.

George, a sixth-grader at St. Timothy, was seven when he left the orphanage. According to his mom, he still recalls how much he appreciated the few clothes he had — even if they didn’t fit. "Some of the boys were wearing girls’ shoes that were even too small for their feet," she said of her visits to her sons’ former home. "The boys were wearing girls’ clothes."

The memory of the conditions she witnessed in the Latvian orphanage spurred Anderson and her two boys to help improve the living conditions for the orphans left behind. For the past five years, the Andersons have organized a shoe drive at St. Timothy School to benefit the Adoption Resource Center, Inc., which sends shoes, clothing and other items to Latvian orphanages each spring. The Adoption Resource Center is a child placement agency specializing in international adoptions and is located in Maryland. The group facilitated the adoption of the Anderson boys.

This year, St. Timothy students and parishioners donated 350 pairs of footwear, along with $100 to cover shipping costs. Sneakers, slippers, dress shoes and boots ranged in sizes from toddler to teenager. The donations are on their way to Pennsylvania, where a family has volunteered use of its garage to store shoes donated from across the country, until they are packaged and shipped to Latvia in early May.

According to Brenda Baker, who coordinates the national Latvian Shoe Drive through the Adoption Resource Center, approximately 2,300 pairs of shoes have been received at the Pennsylvania clearinghouse so far, with more expected in the next few weeks. "Our projection is always 5,000 to 10,000 (pairs of shoes)," said Baker. "The most we’ve ever collected in one year was about 6,000."

Because shoelaces are in short supply, slip-on, Velcro and zippered shoes are especially appreciated. Although the shoe collection deadline has passed, monetary donations are still being accepted that will defray the shipping costs.