Photo courtesy of Nicole Prime • Anna Marie Prime, 10 of Unionville, strikes a pose next to piles of donated shoes. Prime was overwhelmed by the number of shoes she was able to donate to the children at the East Side Soup Kitchen in Saginaw instead of asking for gifts for herself for her birthday. It was a big job matching and boxing them.
By Mary Drier
Staff Writer
UNIONVILLE — If the adage of, “it takes a village to raise a child,” is true, then Unionville has done an outstanding job.
For her 10th birthday July 9, Anna Marie Prime asked for new shoes to donate to the children at the East Side Soup Kitchen in Saginaw.
The little girl’s unselfish request exceeds her wildest dreams… so much so it became difficult to count the number of shoes she was able to donate.
“She collected over 200 pairs of shoes,” said Nicole Prime, who is Anna Marie’s mother. “Plus, she received about $500 to buy shoes with also.”
Because most of the donated shoes were for girls, some of the money was spent on buying shoes for boys and for different sizes that were needed. The rest of the money was used to purchase food for the soup kitchen.
“There have been so many times as a mother that my heart has been so full because of something my kids have said or done – but this beautiful heart of our Anna Maria – just makes me feel so blessed and honored that God chose Ben (father) and I to be the ones who get to love her daily and be a part of her really cool and precious heart!” said Nicole.
“We are called to live our lives like Jesus Christ and Anna has shown each of us what a very small act can do.”
Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.