APS Foundation Joins Shoes On A Shoestring, BOBS from Skechers Distribute Shoes
About 2,300 pairs of shoes given to children Saturday at Milne Stadium.
Skechers staff helped students figure out their shoe size before they received their shoes.
January 22, 2013
More than 200 excited youngsters and their families were lined up by 10 a.m. Saturday morning as BOBS from Skechers and their local partner shoe store, Shoes On A Shoestring, joined with the Albuquerque Public Schools Educational Foundation to distribute some 5,000 pairs of shoes to children in Albuquerque.
Needy students from APS schools were given a voucher by their school counselor to go to Milne Stadium on Saturday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. to pick up a pair of BOBS from Skechers shoes.
“For every pair of Skechers someone buys, a pair of BOBS is donated to the Soles4Souls foundation to distribute to a needy child,” explained Dave Riddle of Shoes On A Shoestring.
Students from Cleveland Mid-School, as well as Albuquerque and Highland high schools were there to measure the children’s feet and hand out the shoes as they joined with volunteers from Shoes On A Shoestring, APS, and Sketchers.
Smith’s Food and Drug stores volunteers handed out cookies and Pepsi provided water to those who had already picked up their shoes. Classic Party Rentals set up tents to keep the shoes and volunteers shaded from the bright sun on Saturday.
Around noon, Little Caesars Pizza showed up with pizza for the youngsters and their families, as well as the volunteers.
Before the event was over, children could be seen running and jumping on the Milne field in their new BOBS.
Phill Casaus, executive director of the APS Education Foundation, said that remaining shoes will be given to the APS Title I Homeless Project, the Bernalillo County Clothing Bank and schools to distribute to students individually.
