Shoe giveaway helps kids start school on the right foot
TOLEDO – Tequilla Walker said her husband arrived by 5 a.m. to nab a spot at the front of the line for Shoe Fest, an annual event in East Toledo that provides free shoes to children. By the time she joined him with their seven grandchildren 150 minutes later, the line of families already stretched down the block of Sixth St., in front of Helping Hands of St. Louis on July 27.
Their diligence paid off a little after 8 a.m. when a round of applause from a crowd of volunteers welcomed the family as the first customers of the day. Filing into a row of folding chairs, the children sat down across from smiling volunteers who gently washed their feet in buckets of soapy water. After drying them off, the volunteers helped each child try on a new pair of socks and tennis shoes.
This year, the event’s organizers were prepared to give away 1,600 pairs of shoes from toddler size 10 to adult size 10 in three hours — double the number they had on hand last year.
While they worked, the helpers chatted with the children about their summers and the upcoming school year. Many were rewarded with beaming smiles, hugs and even a few tears of joy from their young customers, some of whom have never owned new shoes.
Most of our kids that are coming here are coming from the lowest economic with the highest challenges, and we just want to help them be ready for school,
Charlotte Perlaky, an event organizer
Shoes are one of the most expensive back-to-school items for families to purchase, and organizers say this item can have a major impact on self-esteem.
“They say that kids don’t go to school because they don’t have shoes, or the right shoes,” said Theresa Bugelholl, who coordinated the first event 11 years ago. Even though she now lives in Florida, she returns each year to help with Shoe Fest and has watched it steadily grow from its first year when they distributed 250 pairs of shoes to neighborhood kids.
Adult and teen volunteers kept the long line moving as they measured feet and shuttled bins of water and pairs of shoes between the fitting stations. Families enjoyed games, balloon animals and a deejay while they waited, lending the event a carnival atmosphere. Along with shoes, the young guests left with free school supplies, books and other giveaways.
The event is run on a first-come, first-served basis, but if a child is in line and they run out of the size that a child needs, Perlaky says volunteers take down their name and size and deliver the pair of shoes to the family’s home later.
While Helping Hands of St. Louis outreach center is a ministry of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Toledo, shoes donations came from a broad coalition that included Soles4Souls, secular organizations, individuals, Catholic parishes, Protestant congregations and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Some individuals, like Perlaky, buy shoes on clearance throughout the year and store them for the occasion. “We have an area in our attic that just constantly has shoes,” she said.
Beyond the symbolic connection to the Biblical story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples as an example of service, Perlaky explained the goal of the event is to build relationships. “We just want all the kids to know that they have a system of people who believe in them and want them to be everything they want to be.
“We just don’t want them to ever feel like they should give up.”
