By Nancy Kelly
KingsCountyNews.ca
Seventy-six elementary school students living in Kings County are now wearing a new pair of shoes or boots, thanks to the combined efforts of an international corporate giving program and a local children’s charity.
For a third year, Campaign for Kids, a Kings County-based children’s charity, was selected as a partner in Payless Shoe Source’s annual Christmas campaign, Shoes for Kids. Each year Payless provides over $1 million in new shoes to children in need through a network of nonprofit community partners.
As in past years, Campaign For Kids partnered with elementary schools in Kings County to identify kids who could most benefit from the initiative. New this year, the campaign’s directors gathered Feb. 16 to shop for the inventory requested by the schools.
“The process was a bit different this year,” explained Carolyn Kinsman, who coordinated the shopping party, which had to be rescheduled from the original date of Feb. 9 due to a snowstorm.
“We had our shopping list from the schools, and with the help of the store staff, we found what we needed. They were really great.”
Once the inventory was selected, shoes were packaged up and delivered to each of the 13 schools and one community group that took advantage of the initiative. The total value of the shoes purchased came in at just over $1,700. Of that, $1,250 was provided through the Payless certificates and the remainder came from a donation from Campaign For Kids.
“It really is a wonderful program and we are pleased to work with Payless to give the gift of new footwear to kids who need it,’ said Kinsman.
