This year, the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination fell on the same day as Easter. To observe it, churches and the civil rights community partnered with a non-profit organization called Samaritan’s Feet to spread an Easter message unlike any before– Barefoot Sunday. This is only the second time since Dr. King’s assassination in 1968, that Easter has fallen on April 4th. The first was in 1999.
Nearly 5,000 pastors across the country preached their Easter sermons with no shoes — drawing attention to the estimated 300 million children around the world who don’t have shoes. Just before he died, Dr. Martin Luther King focused his efforts on the issue of poverty and economic empowerment for all Americans. Days before he was assassinated, he was preparing to lead the Poor People’s Campaign to highlight the struggles of the poor.
So for the next months ahead, churches, civic and social organizations will collect $10 donations that will buy and ship shoes for millions of children. All the shoes collected will be distributed in the week leading up to the King Holiday next January.
To find out more log onto… samaritansfeet.org/barefoot/.
