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Aiding Orphans By Jordan Wilson
She also wants to give them shoes. Smith has formed the St. Louis Christian Alliance for Orphans, a group made up of her church, Calvary in St. Peters, plus 11 other churches in Missouri and one in Illinois, in an attempt to raise awareness for orphans and help find them families. Much of her time is spent on a year-round shoe drive and on a photo gallery program called Portraits of Grace that tries to find permanent homes for orphans from the St. Louis area. A volunteer opportunity sparked Smith's interest in helping orhpans; she helped Calvary with a camp for Russian orphans six years ago. She was so touched, she then ran the camp for four years. Smith, who has a 14-year-old son, says there are millions of orphans worldwide, and too few people are doing anything about it. She said that the group of churches wouldn't cure the problem alone but that every little bit helped. "If everybody would do just one little part, we could make such a huge difference," Smith said after helping box more than 400 pairs of new shoes donated during Vacation Bible School at her church. The shoe drive, Shoes for Orphan Souls, is one program Smith helped bring to the area. It is run nationwide through Buckner International. The project, now in its second year at Calvary Church, collected more than 1,200 pairs of shoes last year. This year's drive ends July 27, and volunteers will deliver sandals, Crocs, Spiderman-emblazoned sneakers and other shoes to Dallas on July 31. The footwear will be shipped to more than 40 countries. Mari Kruse paused during the shoe collection as she read a note from an area child. It was addressed to an orphan, wishing him or her luck in finding a family. Kruse, of O'Fallon, Mo., traveled to Dallas last year with the group to drop off the shoes. She saw how important they are to orphans. Sometimes the shoes are the only things they can call their own, because they often share other clothing, she said. 'TOSSED FROM HOME TO HOME' Portraits of Grace provides professionally shot portraits and narratives of children looking for a home. Some of the 14 children currently in the gallery of photos have been featured on similar campaigns and still wait for parents. "They get tossed from home to home, and so there's a wall that is built up," Smith said. "We asked them, 'What kind of family do you want?' One just said, 'I don't want to be beaten anymore.'" The state co-sponsors a similar photo effort, the Missouri Heart Gallery Project, which features more than 200 children and expects to find a home for one-fourth of them. The difference between the galleries is that Portraits of Grace will target Christian homes, said Emily Nienhuis, director of Des Peres-based One Heart Family Ministries. Starting Aug. 1, the display will travel to churches in the Alliance for Orphans. There are about 1,500 children in Missouri eligible for adoption. In Illinois there are about 2,900. Most of the children in Portraits of Grace are older and want to be adopted with their siblings, so many people pass them over, Smith said, which is a major reason they are featured. Nienhuis said she worked with agencies such as St. Louis Partners, her liaison to the Children's Division with Missouri Social Services. "They've been very appreciative of us," said Nienhuis, who has two adopted daughters. "We've recruited such stable, loving families. It's been a great partnership." |
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 Shoes for Orphan Souls, a ministry of Buckner, is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. |
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(ST. PETERS, Missouri) — Kim Smith wants to lend a voice to orphaned children in the St. Louis area and throughout the world.