Posted by Nabil Bedewi on Jan 14, 2019
This page is "retired" but kept for historical purposes.  Please visit the new page here https://believeinbelize.org/sitepage/shoes-for-kids-service.
 
The average monthly income in Belize is ~US$800.  This varies widely by profession and region.  The minimum wage is in the US$3 per hour range.  The population of children under 16 in Belize is around 100,000.  With this information it is a good assumption that some children have one pair of shoes and for whatever reason could be barefooted at some point while growing up.
 
As part of its Community Development Program’s Family Support Initiative, Believe in Belize is providing this service capability to distribute shoes to needy children throughout Belize.  Specifically, we will work with the non-profit organization “The Shoe That Grows” https://theshoethatgrows.org/.  It is a 501c3 organization that has developed shoes that grow 5 sizes to accommodate a growing child.  Each shoe costs US$15.
 
How the service works
 
For either option below you would go to this website https://fundraise.becauseinternational.org/BelieveInBelize
  1. You could donate directly to The Shoe That Grows under our Believe in Belize team.  Our goal is to provide 1000 shoes over time.  As funds are raised we will arrange to purchase them and distribute them to needy children.
  2. If you would like to support your own groups of children in Belize, e.g. specific school or village, you can setup your own group within the Believe in Belize team by selecting “Join Team”.  We will use funds under the Believe in Belize team account to help fund your own group whenever possible.
If you have a particular child you would like to provide the shoes feel free to go directly to this site https://theshoethatgrows.org/distribute-shoes-survey/ to purchase the shoes and provide them to the child.  Keep in mind, under this scenario you are operating outside of Believe in Belize, which is OK with us since at least we are happy to spread the word.