![SACRED members and students have decorated shoes they’ll send to children in need. [Cheongshim Newsletter]](http://www.jstudentboard.com/reporter/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/29.sacred.jpg)
SACRED tries to make a change through raising awareness on youth empowerment and education. Members visit the Mokyang Church every Sunday from 9 am to 1 pm to help students enhance their English speaking skills and upload audio recordings of the lessons for later reference.
On Sunday, September 13, SACRED gathered at the Mokyang Church, trying to raise awareness of the situation of child laborers in developing countries. One third of these children are under ten years old, and one out of eight child laborers in the world is forced to walk kilometers of steep mountain paths either barefooted or in slippers in order to earn daily living. The environments in which the children work are often hazardous, leaving children exposed to myriad dangers.
To help these children, members of the organization participated in many events in collaboration with the students they teach and the Hope to the Future Association (HFA), a nonprofit association partnered with the World Federation of United Nations Association (WFUNA) dedicated to helping children through education and sustainable sponsorship. One thing Hope to the Future does is collect shoes for kids in need.
“We’ve been hosting this event since 2010 and have been delivering [shoes] to kids in Nepal, Zimbabwe, and South Sudan. We hope we can provide an extent of support for those children struggling in developing countries,” said HFA spokesperson JiYoung Yoon.
SACRED members also adorned the shoes with drawn messages. The reason for drawing on the pairs of shoes, Yoon explained, was not only to prevent new shoes from going into black markets but also to send a message of hope and peace through pictures.
“We wanted to create a platform where both the members and students will work together to help a cause,” said Jerry Jae Youn Kim, the president of SACRED. “We received donations from schools and bought 50 pairs of shoes for members and students to decorate with messages of hope to these children.”
Along with delivering shoes to kids in need, SACRED has decided to donate books with a sentence of encouragement in the front as well.
“We’ve been receiving donations of books in our school lately,” said Claire Yoon, a sophomore member. “As much as safety and the working conditions of these children are important, I think giving them an opportunity to receive education is equally as important,” Yoon added.
“I love this group so much because it’s so clear that the members feel joy in doing so much good, and I’m so glad I was able to find an outlet for such passion,” said Jasmine Lee, a freshman in University of Pennsylvania who founded SACRED.
SACRED has raised and donated over $1850 within this year, and is planning for its upcoming charity concert. It has been greatly expanding since its establishment in 2014 and has far more to come.
