Dedication - heart and sole

Two members of a religious community are in the business of gathering soles, for the feet that is.

Benedictine Sisters Sue Fazzini and Audrey Quinn provide needy children in Greene County with a chance to return to school with a new pair of warm and comfortable shoes. The third-year project, called 'Heart 'N Sole,' put 335 pairs of shoes on children last month.

'We celebrated out 10th anniversary in Greene County in 1999 and we wanted to do some kind of project to give back to the community because we just felt so incredibly blessed and welcomed here,' said Fazzini, a former Donora resident, who along with Quinn established the Greene County Mission in 1989.

'We thought of school shoes and Audrey came up with the name 'Heart 'N Sole,' a sort of play on words.'

With a child poverty rate in Greene County at 26.5 percent, the two sisters were walking down a much-needed road.

Distributing 125 pairs of shoes to children in low income families that first year, the project has continued to grow through the graces of area schools and churches. 'We just reached out in blind faith,' said Fazzini. 'We had no money and we didn't know where this thing was going.'

According to the sisters, letters were sent to social service agencies in Greene County the first year asking for names of children in need of shoes. As outreach counselors who interact with schools and social service agencies, the two engaged the support of students in the Carmichaels, Jefferson Morgan and West Greene schools. These students would pick a tag with a child's age, sex and shoe size, then purchased a pair of shoes for that child.

While that program was successful, the sisters realized they could meet the needs of more children by purchasing the shoes with monetary donations, and do so in time for the start of school.

'We did this in October on Make A Difference Day last year, but we've moved it to August because really these kids should have the shoes to start the school year,' said Fazzini. 'We knew we would lose the support of the schools because school was not in session, so we turned to the churches.'

'It's become a real ecumenical project,' said Fazzini.

Quinn, a native of Pittsburgh's Northside, said newly-purchased shoes are always accepted, but with some good consumer practices and a lot of finagling she can make the money go a long way.

She said some retailers even call to let them know when they have shoes available at a deep discount. Others give them coupons for future purchases.

'When somebody donates to us we can really triple their money,' said Quinn. 'All year long we buy shoes.'

The women use one spare bedroom in their spacious ranch-style home as a huge closet for shoes. The Waynesburg home situated on six acres is a gift of Carl Sieg in memory of his wife, Jeanne Cotter Sieg.

'The first year we said any school age from Head Start 3 years up, but then we got into these expensive special designer styles the high school kids wanted, so now we go up to eighth grade,' said Quinn. 'But we have a lot of big sizes now, so we may have to extend that age again.'

'We try to stick with the moderately-priced shoes,' said Fazzini. 'That a Benedictine value. All things in moderation.'

The practice of Heart 'N Sole is to give the shoes to the agency or person who made the request, as the coordinators prefer to remain anonymous. But as foster parents to about 125 children during their 10 years in the county, the two are pretty well known for their generosity.

'With all the kids we've had here, the parents know us and they will call us directly,' said Fazzini. 'The parents are just so grateful to have this. It's just one less expense they have to worry about.'

To learn more about the Greene County Mission and its programs, visit the website at www.angelfire.com/on/osb or call (724) 852-4323.