Thousands of new shoes are being purchased for orphans and needy children in Mexico and the Dominican Republic because of the great response to pureNRG’s The Real Thing pre-sale through Family Christian Stores earlier this year. The James Fund is coordinating the shoe distribution effort, aided by Payless ShoeSource. While in Mexico, the team ministered to children by washing their feet, putting on socks and then fitting them for a pair of new shoes from Payless.

Steve Biondo, Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Family Christian Stores and President of Family Christian Stores’ The James Fund, was part of the team that traveled to Mexico and said, “The work of distributing the shoes was a huge blessing and very emotional for the team. In the area we served, conditions are dramatically desperate, as families live with no running water, no plumbing, and in shelters made of discarded debris. We washed hundreds of precious feet, fitted the children for shoes, placed new socks on their feet, and then put new shoes on their feet. And really, that is what it was all about - showing the kids that they are loved, respected, and valued by Jesus.”

In addition to serving the children of Monterey, pureNRG helped patch roofs and even put on a free concert during their stay. “Our favorite part of the mission trip was washing the kids’ feet and giving them new shoes,” stated pureNRG. “We hated to leave them and can’t wait to go back and see them again soon!”

For more stories, photos and exclusive footage from pureNRG’s trip, please visit www.pureNRGonline.com or www.wordlabelgroup.com.

Word Entertainment, a Warner/Curb company, is comprised of Word Distribution, Word Music and Word Label Group’s Word Records, Fervent Records, Myrrh Records, Canaan Records and Word Music Publishing. Leading the industry with over 50 years of music making history, Word Entertainment represents some of Christian entertainment’s top brands, including award-winning artists Diamond Rio, Point Of Grace, BarlowGirl, Mark Schultz, Randy Travis, Selah, Natalie Grant, Aaron Shust, Big Daddy Weave and Francesca Battistelli, in addition to Big Idea's successful VeggieTales video series.

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