Warm Fuzzies...
...and they're not the type on an old sweater you just took out of the dryer.Last night the little 8 year old girl that I mentor called me to chat. Cute things from that conversation:
"Hi, Steph, it's __________. Remember me?" Awwwwww
(After I told her that I was visiting my mom and dad and sister in Florida for Christmas...)
You could take your son or daughter to Disney World and your parents and your sister and your Grandma and your Grandpa and your cousins and your auntie and your uncle. I bet they would like that!
(I just smiled and said, "Yes, that's probably true!")
Then she said:
Well, will you tell me all about it when you come back to school to mentor me?
Another cute thing out of nowhere...
Her:
So how is your son or daughter?
Me:
Well, actually I don't have a son or daughter.
Her:
Oh, so it's just you?
Me:
Yeah, just me!
Her:
Oh, so you're not a Mrs? You're a Miss?
Me:
Yeah, I guess so!
Then something else:
Me:
You could read to your brother to make him go to sleep so he doesn't bother you.
Her:
He's just 2. He doesn't understand my books. He just babbles.
Me:
Well maybe you could read him a little kid's book?
Her:
Oh, like Elmo! That would be perfect.
Then came another cool phone call today from a friend with whom I used to work in Florida. Apparently, a program that I started through the community service branch of the athletic department at that school (we had done it at my undergrad) was still going strong there - and is growing. The program is awesome - it provides new sneakers to under-priviledged children at local elementary schools. Hundreds of them. And I was worried that after I left it wouldn't continue. I'll be honest - the program is A LOT of work...but there is nothing cooler than seeing the smiles on little kids faces who get a new pair of sneakers for the first time.
The program was simple - and the process was fun. We partnered with elementary schools who provided us with the names of children who really needed sneakers. We created "Wish Tree" papers (for lack of a better term) with the children's first names, sex, age and shoe size. All of that information helped the buyer make an educated purchase. We then bought socks and put a pair of socks in each box (if we had the money in the program that year to do it), wrapped each and every pair of shoes, and hand delivered them...with Santa. And we made sure that every name we were given by the school had a pair of sneakers. We did absolutely everything under our power to fill every need. Watching those kids open the boxes was so rewarding...and the best part about Christmas each year I did the program. Some of those kids honestly had said they didn't think Santa cared about them, or they were bad, because Santa had never given them a present before. That makes you sad for a minute, until you realize that you got to be Santa and show them that you cared.
Those years that I worked on the program really changed my attitude when I walked by a Payless or the shoe department at a WalMart. If I saw kids sneakers on sale, I would try to buy a pair and hold onto them until November came and then match it up with a kid because it was almost guaranteed that there would be a kid that needed that size. Or when the program got going, I would know which sizes we were in most need of so I would just find a pair or two then and fill in the holes. It was really a blast to do it.
Here's why I am so much in support of this program that provides little kids with new sneakers (don't get me wrong - I love Toys For Tots and have been known to buy a puzzle or stuffed animal to throw in those bins). Sometimes little boys are wearing their sisters' outgrown sandals, other times parents can't afford to buy kids new shoes so their current ones have holes. Other kids can be cruel...and sneakers are a status symbol to kids. But the great thing is that they don't have to be Nike or Reebok or anything expensive - just something new that fits from WalMart or Payless. In fact, with the program, when we received cash donations to purchase shoes, we would go to Payless or WalMart or KMart. Kids those age don't care about designer names...they just think there is something wrong with their friends if they are wearing torn up old shoes.
Toys break, they get old, or they get lost. But a kid with new sneakers can run around outside without a new toy, or a toy at all...and play tag, run a race, jump rope or climb a tree. Can a Care Bear do that?
My sister put it best one year: "All of those new toys don't mean a thing to the kids if they can't run around outside and play with them because they don't have shoes that fit." (My sister was involved with the program 100% when she and I went to undergrad together...and my mom even helped...buying sneakers on her own and helping us spend the cash donations as we took the school's 15-passenger vans and filled them at Payless, helping us wrap, helping us deliver...it became a family affair for The Girls of The Steph's Family.)
New sneakers make children walk faster, stand taller and jump higher - all because they feel better about themselves every time they put them on. Plus, they physically feel better when the shoes fit. Knowing that made that program so great...and makes me so happy that it's still going strong.
Alright, I'm down off my soap box. I'm happy that I have sneakers that cushioned my jump down.
posted by Steph @ 8:30 PM
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