Like clothes, shoes provide underprivileged children the confidence they need to go about their daily lives. A pair of shoes not only helps to protect a child’s feet, but also allows kids to engage in sports and other healthy activities.
K.I.D.S. works primarily with the shoe industry charity Soles4Souls and several companies to meet many of our agencies’ needs for footwear.
In 2008, K.I.D.S received more than $4 million dollars worth of new shoes from the non-profit Soles4Souls and industry leaders such as Stride Rite, Robeez, Ugg Australia, Dansko, Veggies Footwear and Buster Brown. |
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In the summer of 2008, Soles4Souls teamed up with K.I.D.S. and our agencies in Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Flagstaff and New Orleans to put 75,000 new pairs of flip-flops on the feet of children in each of these five communities. The sandals, part of a total donation of product worth $2.4 million, helped the kids enjoy the summer season.
Robeez Footwear Ltd., a children’s footwear company that is part of the Stride Rite family of companies, linked its 2008 “Heart & Sole” cause marketing program with K.I.D.S. to help children in orphanages and medical centers. For every pair of shoes purchased online at www.robeez.com the shoe company donated one pair to K.I.D.S., totaling more than $290,000 dollars worth of new shoes donated.
Donor Spotlight: Stride Rite Children’s Group, Inc
In May 2009, K.I.D.S. donor Stride Rite helped honor New York State First Lady Michelle Paige Paterson and her “Healthy Steps to Albany” program that fights childhood obesity. Ms. Paterson presented 400 pairs of donated Saucony sneakers to the statewide winners of the exercise challenge at a special luncheon in the state capitol. Nearly 270 classrooms of New York 6th, 7th, and 8th graders participated in the program, walking the equivalent of more than 1.4 billion steps. |
