Until last week, a little boy named James had to go to school wearing his younger sister’s hot pink jelly sandals because he didn’t have any shoes of his own. But last week, families with students at West University Elementary collected over 900 pairs of new shoes and socks to be distributed among economically disadvantaged children at other HISD schools—including James.
Volunteers sort nearly 1,000 pairs of new shoes and socks collected by students at West University Elementary for the Shoes That Fit drive.
The shoe drive was one of the school’s community service projects, which aims not only to support local charities, but also to educate students about the underlying problems that these organizations try to assuage.
“Donating money is always helpful, but the anonymity of it doesn’t have the same impact as taking your child to the store and purchase a new pair of sneakers for someone specific with a name and a shoe size,” said Laura Torgerson, mom to two West University Elementary students and president of the Houston chapter of Shoes That Fit, the organization that manages the collection and distribution of new shoes and socks.
“Living where we do, it’s hard to believe that HISD is one of the poorest school systems in the country,” Torgerson said. “And we take for granted the simple value of clean socks and a pair of well-fitting shoes. Without them, kids can’t concentrate as well on academics, can’t participate in PE.”
Last year, the Houston chapter of Shoes That Fit collected 608 pairs of shoes from six individual drives. This year, they collected 912 pairs from West University Elementary alone. Additionally, students donated $1,628.25 in cash for the ancillary “Just for Kicks” fundraiser that also supported Shoes That Fit.
“I’m really lucky to have comfortable shoes,” said fourth-grader Jimmie Brannen. “I’m glad that another kid gets to have some now, too.”
