Reading Ephesians 5:1 - "Follow God's example, therefore, as dearly loved children" - Soddy-Daisy residents Alex and Megan Vaughn felt called to be imitators of God. While they believe "God's Plan A" is for children to be raised by their family, they also believe certain circumstances require a plan B.
They interpreted the verse from Ephesians as a call to be that plan B, or "Plan BE," as they refer to it, for a child in Taiwan.
The Vaughn family of Soddy-Daisy is collecting used shoes to raise money for the adoption of a child from Taiwan."We have been praying about adopting for a long time, and we really felt our time is now," Megan Vaughn said.
They decided to pursue adoption of an older child from Taiwan to join their four biological children.
International adoption isn't cheap, however, and the family still has money to raise in order to cover the cost, approximately $39,000 in total.
To accomplish this, they've partnered with Funds2Orgs, which purchases the shoes collected by its partners and sells them for a nominal fee to micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries to clean, repair and resell them for a profit in the communities where they live. This helps the micro-entrepreneurs create a self-sustaining way of earning money while also assisting shoe drive partners in raising funds for worthy causes.
The Vaughns hope to collect 100 bags of shoes, with each bag containing 25 pairs. Funds2Orgs will pay 40 cents per pound of shoes, and the Vaughns estimate they'll raise around $1,000 with 100 bags. Cadence Coffee Co. agreed to serve as a drop-off location for the drive, and so far 65 bags have been collected. They still need to collect 35 more bags to reach their goal, which they hope to do by May 1 in order to cover their next agency fees.
They welcome donations of any type of shoe, though the shoes must have soles and no holes to be accepted by Funds2Orgs.
Cadence Coffee Co. is at 11 E. Seventh St. in downtown Chattanooga.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.