Rotary District 6040’s annual shoe caravan will drive through North Missouri to pick up new shoes collected by its 13 Rotary Clubs in Kansas City and surrounding counties. The shoes will be delivered to vulnerable children by nonprofit program Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls.

Over the past 30 days, donations of new shoes and socks for children and teens were collected by the clubs within their local communities. The Rotary shoe caravan will include a 53’ tractor trailer and will make 20 stops over the course of four days. The donations collected by the Tarkio Rotary Club and Rock Port Rotary Club will be picked up on Thursday, April 25, at US Bank in Tarkio (due to the road closures because of flooding, there will not be a stop in Rock Port so the two stops are being combined into one). The final two stops, St. Joseph and Cameron, will include celebratory parties. This is the 18th year Rotary District 6040 has held its collection drive for Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls; it is the 10th year for the caravan.

Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls®, the largest humanitarian aid project of Buckner International, provides new shoes and socks to orphans and vulnerable children in the United States and throughout the world. Since 1999, Buckner Shoes has collected and distributed nearly 4 million pairs of new shoes, serving children in more than 80 countries. Thirty percent of the shoes benefit children living in the U.S.

Rotary International is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in their communities, and in them. For more information, visit Rotary.org.