News & Events
Soul to Sole makes annual distribution of new shoes to kids
Date: 11-Nov-2011
ELYRIA — There is nothing like a new pair of shoes to turn a shy kid into a wannabe super athlete.
“I finally have some good shoes to run around outside in,” said Seth Hill, 11, a fifth-grader at Franklin Elementary School. “My old shoes were loose and didn’t fit good.”
Seth said he is always excited to go to Elyria’s Boys and Girls Club of Lorain County, but Thursday was a particularly special day.
It was distribution day for Soul to Sole, a nonprofit organization started in 2007 by Lorain native Lori Campana as a way to get new shoes onto the feet of deserving area youths. Since then, 8,000 pairs of shoes have been given out, 600 of those shoes getting on the feet of kids this week.
It was a little chaotic, as one would imagine an event where dozens of kids are kicking off old shoes in favor of new ones would be. The goal was a perfect fit for everyone, so switches for sizes too big or too small added to the fun.
“I now don’t have to wear my old shoes, which were messy,” said 8-year-old Jada Williams, who is a third-grader at Franklin Elementary. Her new Asics are gray, silver and yellow, a color combination she said she loves.
While new shoes are cool for Jada, she said she knows her mother will be very happy not to have to shell out hard-to-find cash for new shoes.
“Sometimes she tells me to ask my grandma because she can’t buy me new shoes just because I get mud on them,” she said.
Campana said the charity had purchased shoes in the past from Steve & Barry’s, which when in operation sold an affordable pair of shoes marketed by professional basketball player Stephon Marbury.
This year, the charity got a deal on brand-name shoes for about the same price — around $15 a pair. All of the shoes came from Kohlmeyer Sporting Goods on Grove Avenue.
“Every time we do this, it is just smiles and gratitude. The kids are so grateful,” Campana said. “New shoes and shoes that fit bring such confidence in kids.”
Until now, Soul to Sole was strictly a Lorain County charity, but Campana said a friend is gearing up to begin distributing shoes to one Boys and Girls Club on the west side of Cleveland.
Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.
* Original Source: chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2011/11/11/soul-to-sole-makes-annual-distribution-of-new-shoes-to-kids/
