This is Nelja. The little girl is 9 years old. She is half an orphan and her mother is dysfunctional. So Nelja lives in the childen’s foster home in Ilonca. Often the children possess no more than the clothes on their backs.

Knowing where the shoe is too tight

A new charity project of the Transcarpathia Benefit Society

Pastor Zán some time ago visited the state-run children’s home in the town of Ilonca in the West Ukrainian province of Transcarpathia. It is home to 130 children between 6 and 16 years of age. They are either orphans or come from dysfunctional families. The head of the institution told us that basic needs of food and heating material are covered monetarily, by and large. However he did address directly and concretely the matter of “where the shoe pinches too tightly”, in the true sense of the phrase.

“For every child and youngster in the home, their great desire is just a pair of new shoes,“he indicated to Pastor Zán. The urgent need for this cannot be overlooked. Sándor Zán took the concern to heart, and discussed with the society the possibility of assisting in this matter. „A pair costs an average of 10 Euros (about 10 dollars), for we would like to buy decent shoes and not some cheap brand that falls apart after two weeks,“ says Pastor Zán. He has already made contact with shoe dealers in the region who are ready to procure only the shoes which really fit.

It would be great if many members would possibly be ready to bring joy to the heart of one child or even many children, and pay for a pair of new shoes, which would then be bought over the course of the summer.

The Transcarpathia Benefit Society kindly requests your donation.