Samaritan's Feet, in cooperation with community leaders and volunteers in the McDonald County area, will host a free shoe distribution event on Saturday, Oct. 28, at First Baptist Church of Pineville. The church is at 205 W. Fifth St., in Pineville.

Samaritan's Feet is a nonprofit organization that shares a message of hope and love through the washing of feet of children locally and around the world -- with a gift of free new socks and shoes.

If you would like to register your children for a pair of free shoes and socks, call 479-322-9875 or 479-640-1788 for more information, or email [email protected] with the child's name, age, gender, grade, and shoe size.

Samaritan's Feet serves and inspires hope in children by providing shoes as the foundation to a spiritual and healthy life resulting in the advancement of education and economic opportunities. Why shoes? More than 30 years ago, a young Nigerian boy, Manny Ohonme, received his first pair of shoes at the age of 9. It changed his life and now he wants to give others that same opportunity for change and impact.

Samaritan's Feet wants to inspire hope through the gift of shoes, the act of washing feet, and encouragement to those who need it most. People without shoes face dangers like laceration, fungus, and insect bites that can lead to infection, disease, and even death. Children with no shoes are often not allowed entrance to education in many counties and can find their way into slavery, or unsafe and inexcusable child labor environments. Since the founding in 2003, Samaritan's Feet and its partners have distributed more than 6.5 million pairs of shoes in 88 countries and 325 U.S. cities.