Shoe box program receives Soroptimists donation
The shoe box program, coordinated by the Soroptimist International of Eel River Valley club, has received a donation from the Eel River Valley Foundation.
The $1,200 donation will help provide a pair of shoes and two pairs of socks to local youth, whose families can't afford to buy them these items.
“Since August when school started, we have given out more than a dozen pairs of shoes,” said the director of the program, Kay Chapman, and also of the Fortuna Family Resource Center, which manages the distribution of the shoes and socks.
“Thanks to the Eel River Valley Foundation donation, we have purchased a whole bunch of shoes and are getting them out (to students) in Hydesville, Rio Dell, and Fortuna,” Chapman added.
The staff at the individual schools make recommendations for which students are in need of a new pair of shoes.
“We fit them, we don't just hand out boxes of shoes,” Chapman said. “We fit them before they walk out the door.”
The shoe box program began more than 20 years ago.
Eel River Valley Foundation President Pam Murphy said, “We were looking for what the needs (that) are in the community and feel that this program is meeting one of those needs.”
The Eel River Valley Foundation until recently was the owner/ operator of Suzanne's House, located across the street from Redwood Memorial Hospital, and provided lower-cost accommodations for families of patients in the hospital.
“This is our first donation since selling Suzanne's House,” Murphy said, “and we are excited to make it to the shoe box program.”