BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – United Way of Southern West Virginia is kicking off Giving Tuesday with a “Giving Shoes Day Shoe Drive.”
This supports their Equal Footing Shoe Fund from now through the end of December — when they provide a new pair of athletic shoes through our local school system to children without proper footwear.
“Our foot pantry is incredibly vital to our school systems,” said Executive Director Trena Dacal. “We partner with our counselors, administrators, teachers, and when they identify a child who doesn’t have proper footwear they can give us a call, and we will provide a new pair of athletic shoes and socks directly to that child at school.”
UWSWV relies on community donations to keep its shoe pantries updated and stocked.
“A $20 donation will provide a pair of shoes to our shoe pantry, or if someone wants to come by with a new pair of athletic shoes, they can stop by our office at 110 Croft Street in Beckley and drop off a pair of shoes,” Dacal said.
According to the executive director, they get calls as early as the first day of school from counselors identifying kids without the proper footwear. Kids outgrow and outwear shoes frequently when they’re younger. And with several siblings…
“Families on limited incomes or fixed budgets, it’s a strain to purchase multiple pairs of shoes throughout the year,” said Dacal. “There are children who end up at school with the soles or the toes out of their shoes or they’re wearing hand-me-downs from an older sibling that are worn out.”
Southern West Virginians always step up to help their neighbors, with an extra need around the holidays and the rise in power bills and family budgets spread thin. The executive director says school counselors and teachers are concerned about kids arriving at school or waiting on buses in frigid temps only wearing a pair of sandals or weather-inappropriate shoes. She calls it a safety hazard.
“They can’t participate in physical education classes if they don’t have the proper footwear,” said Dacal. “So through no fault of their own, they have to sit out of physical education or extracurricular activities. And the purpose of our Equal Footing Shoe Fund is to give kids an equal chance in school.”
