This project will provide new athletic shoes to 200 children in four Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools who have been identified as in need of shoes. We provide new athletic shoes to these children who are in need. Our mission is to tackle one of the most visible signs of poverty in Winston-Salem by giving children in need new athletic shoes to attend school with dignity and joy, prepared.
Roughly 1 in 5 children in the United States are poor-they live in families whose income falls below the federal poverty threshold. That's 15,000,000 kids. Even worse is the number of children living in low-income families, which is now 41%. Shoes are one of the most visible signs of poverty. Childhood is supposed to be a magical, carefree time. But kids are suffering excruciating stigma, bullying, and ridiculeall for lack of decent shoes.
This project will solve the problem by giving children in need new athletic shoes to attend school with dignity and joy, prepared to learn, play and thrive. A new pair of shoes can be a life-changing event for a child. School attendance, self-esteem, and behavior improve. Physical activity increases. Smiles return. All from an often over-looked item-a good pair of shoes.
The project will provide 200 pairs of shoes to 200 children allowing them to learn, play and thrive with dignity and joy as well as improve their school attendance, self-esteem, and behavior; while decreasing educational readiness and risk of school dropout. When our children get their new athletic shoes, 70% percent of our schools report an increase in physical activity and 40% of our schools report higher attendance.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
