Every year
Desculț am fost și m-ați încălțat!
“I was barefoot and you gave me shoes!”: new winter boots for children who have never had a new pair. Donors choose a child from a list of sizes and give them a new pair.
The story of the campaign
In October 2018 Father Ion Iagăru wrote: “Early in the morning, on the doorstep of a school, at 7 degrees Celsius, I wait for the children to arrive… I watch them come with frozen hands and little feet without shoes! Images that convince me to start a new charity project: ‘I was barefoot and you gave me shoes!’”
Only new boots are given, to children who have never had a new pair, only worn shoes handed down by relatives or bought second-hand. Father Ion publishes the list of sizes, and the boots can be brought or sent to the Church of Caracal Municipal Hospital, 36 Plevnei Street.
“For many children, Saint Nicholas does not put something sweet in their boots, but rags to line the holes the water comes through when it rains and the snow when it snows…”
The editions
5 editions
2025
With the support of the Strong Women’s Club, through the volunteers of the Fiți Buni Association.
ResultNew boots for 100 children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
2023A special edition
For the first time, boots for the elderly: 80 pairs of warm boots for elderly people and people with disabilities from Caracal and the places nearby, each with a basket of Christmas gifts, in December. The deposit for the 80 pairs was paid in November.
2022
An edition for hard-of-hearing and deaf children: the aim was new boots for about 10% of the hard-of-hearing and deaf children in Romania, more than 150 children. The campaign ran until mid-December, with the support of the Media10 newspaper.
2021
From 1 to 30 November, for 75 children — 37 girls and 38 boys — with the list of sizes published by Father Ion.
2018
Within a few days Father Ion found 89 children who urgently needed boots. The Media10 newspaper supported the campaign, and boots came from all over the country and from abroad: Ireland, Turkey, Italy. On 4 November the parcels were made up at the church; the boots reached children in Caracal, in the villages around it — Chilii, Hotărani, Osica, Scărișoara, Plaviceni, Drăghiceni, Bucinișu, Vlădila — and in Corabia.
ResultNew boots for 200 children, against the 90 the campaign had set out to reach.
Photographs
4 photographs
In the press
14 articles and reports
- Părintele Ion Iagăru dă startul campaniei “DESCULŢ AM FOST ŞI M-AŢI ÎNCĂLŢAT!” (opens in a new tab)
Gazeta Oltului
in Romanian - Încalță și tu un copil, fii Moș Nicolae! Start campaniei “Desculț am fost și m-ați încălțat!” (opens in a new tab)
Realitatea Oltului
in Romanian
Show the other 6 articles
- FOTO/ Campanie de succes: Sute de copii, încălțați de oameni cu suflet (opens in a new tab)
Realitatea Oltului
in Romanian - Încălțați un copil! Zeci de copii desculți așteaptă ghetuțe noi cadou! (opens in a new tab)
Realitatea Oltului
in Romanian
How you can help
Join the Fiți Buni Association and give any amount to its accounts at Banca Transilvania.
Bank transfer
Accounts in RON, EUR and GBP, at Banca Transilvania.3.5% of your income tax
You can direct 3.5% of your income tax to the association with Form 230.Questions