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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — More than 500 local elementary school students are getting new shoes again this year thanks to donations from Sandia National Laboratories employees through the Labs’ annual Shoes for Kids campaign.
Shoe fittings during school outings to the Mervyn’s department store at Coronado Center are the main event of the drive. At each of several fittings during the year, Sandia volunteers and Mervyn’s staff fit a group of 25 children with a new pair of shoes during a span of one hour.
The children’s bright eyes and huge smiles are their reward.
Albuquerque Public Schools teachers and staff identify the children in need.
The Shoes for Kids Program enters its 48th year this January.
The project began as a holiday gift exchange between two scientists at Sandia. They decided rather than giving gifts or cards to each other, they would buy new shoes for needy children.
Over the years, word spread and the Christmas program escalated. In 1995, Lockheed Martin and Sandia adopted the Shoes for Kids Program as a corporate-sponsored drive. The total amount donated has increased since 1999. Last year Sandia employees and retirees donated more than $16,000. This year 20 schools are participating, two more than last year.
| Photo Opportunity: Members of the news media are invited to a Shoes for Kids fitting this Thursday, Dec .16, 9:45 to 10:45 a.m., at Mervyn’s in Coronado Center. The children, Sandia volunteers, and Mervyn’s employees will be available to discuss the program. |
The project is a team effort. The Sandia Laboratory Federal Credit Union collects donations, Mervyn’s provides shoes at discounted prices, Albuquerque Public Schools identifies children in need, and numerous bus companies throughout the city provide transportation from the schools to Mervyn’s.