ONE STEP AT A TIME

By

Gene Rurka

Central New Jersey Chapter President

Humanitarian Services Chairman

Central New Jersey Chapter members Robert (Bob) Viden and Gene Rurka displaying donated shoes and prosthetic devices for overseas shipment)

The Central New Jersey Chapter of SCI is a small but active organization which has started and maintained many non-hunting, non-game related projects in its 18-year history.  Of these projects, one of the most visible is named “Footsteps”.  The goal of the “Footsteps” project is to provide footwear to individuals of all ages in countries to which our members frequently travel.

Our Chapter members’ extensive appetite for hunting and traveling provide an excellent opportunity to transport our footwear donations at minimal costs.  As we all realize, it takes time, dedication, hard work and an ingrained desire to help your fellow man – whoever and wherever he or she may be – to make these types of projects succeed. 

SCI Chapter member Bob Viden (Bob is also an NRA Board members) and his wife Gail took the “Footstep” program under their wings and have nurtured and maintained this program for nearly a decade.  Through their untiring effort, Bob and Gail have managed to collect and distribute over 34,000 pairs of shoes under the Central NJ Chapter’s umbrella.  The “Footsteps” program has been fortunate in receiving footwear from college fraternities and sororities, school age students, and of course, friends, club members and members of numerous local communities.   Once collected, the shoes are inspected for amount of wear and sorted by size; they are then bagged according to size for shipment and distribution.  The sorting and storage of a few thousand pairs of shoes is a monumental task in itself. 

Another Central New Jersey project - the prosthetic device project - was started as a result of a tragic injury to one of our members.  Ever eager to turn a tragic event into treasured moments for needy individuals, our Chapter members Bill and Gloria Rypkema have been instrumental in obtaining prosthetic devices in order to maintain and build this new Chapter project.  Our prosthetic device and “Footsteps” programs have combined to provide individuals the opportunity to be ambulatory and at the same time, help resist parasitic infections.  This translates into healthier and more productive members of their local communities. 

As you can see, all great things can happen – one step at a time.  The Central New Jersey Chapter members should be congratulated for their efforts in not only these two projects, but also in their education, conservation, and humanitarian service endeavors.