Walk In Comfort: Shoe Drive At Wenatchee Valley YMCA On May 20th
The Wenatchee Valley YMCA is partnering with the nonprofit Samaritan's Feet for an upcoming show drive.
On May 20, athletic shoes will be dispersed at the YMCA location in Wenatchee. About 100 individuals are expected to receive gleaming new sneakers. The recipients are children and teens.
"If a parent feels their children need shoes or help with putting good, athletic, nonbranded shoes on their feet, then they sign up," says Wenatchee Valley YMCA CEO Dory Foster. "They'll even do a foot washing to talk about hygiene."
The initial deadline for registration was May 3, but the shoe drive is now at capacity.
The shoe drive should be of particular interest to basketball devotees. About a dozen Wenatchee Bighorns players have been tapped to appear at the event.
The players will be interfacing with people one-on-one and offering words of encouragement to the less fortunate.
That isn't all. Shoe drive beneficiaries can expect a slew of day-brightening goodies; not just the sneakers themselves but also socks, a "Hope Tote bag" and a "Hope Note," according to the Wenatchee Valley YMCA Facebook page.
"It totally aligns with the YMCA," Foster says. "It was a no-brainer for us to say yes to this."
Samaritan's Feet is a humanitarian relief agency. Co-founded by a North Dakota woman and a Lagos man eager to pay it forward, the agency distributes footwear on a global scale. It has a presence in over 100 countries and scores of American cities.
Shoe insecurity is a real but underdocumented phenomenon. It's also a glaring obstacle to good foot health. Thankfully there are campaigns like the novel and widely observed One Day Without Shoes.
Click here for more information on how to donate or volunteer for Samaritan's Feet.
May 20 falls on a Friday. The shoe drive takes place from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Seasonal Problem with Shoes
Gallery Credit: Paty Quyn
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