Shoe donations help kids put their best foot forward

ALBANY — As children fidgeted while sitting on the gym floor at Jackson Heights Elementary Monday morning, they kept stealing glances at the orange bags lined up neatly on a long table in front of them.

The 100 kids were excited because they were about to get a brand new pair of tennis shoes thanks to H.E.A.R.T. Organization (Hands Extended Across Reaching Together) and a giving community.

Since 2009, H.E.A.R.T has provided more than 3,100 pairs of shoes to Dougherty County’s needy elementary school children. To H.E.A.R.T. CEO Anne Milledge, the shoes are more than a gift — they represent an obligation.

Shoes from the HEART provides shoes for K through fifth grade children to promote physical activity, participation in athletic programs, personal development, self-esteem and confidence.

“Every child needs a pair of shoes so this was an easy way to reach some of the kids in need,” Milledge said. “We are investing in our children so hopefully they will give back to the community later after they get older. We are working on building these kids from the inside out and we are teaching them to put their best foot forward.”

According to Milledge, more than 81 percent of the nearly 15,000 children in the Dougherty County School System come from economically disadvantaged homes, and 9 percent of those children have some disabilities.

“We just felt like providing shoes was a way to really make an impact because everyone needs shoes,” said Milledge. “We also felt that providing shoes could also provide a lot of other benefits to children, like improving school attendance, improving their confidence and self-esteem, which would improve their academics and also provide them opportunity to participate in athletics. A lot of P.E. classes require a good pair of athletic shoes, and the kids that don’t have those can’t participate.

“It just made sense to look at shoes.”

Later in the day, the scene was repeated at Turner Elementary. Today, the group will visit Morningside and Martin Luther King elementary schools. Next month, the organization plans to hand out another 100 pair of shoes at Alice Coachman Elementary.

The shoes that are given out are provided by a major athletic shoe manufacturer, and all the shoes are the same except for the sizes. The schools handle the coordination of the students and the sizes and get parental approval through permission slips on a first-come, first-served basis.

Milledge said much of the funding comes from individuals in the community, adding that local corporations and churches also play a huge role. She added some of the donors were MLK Breakfast Donors, many local Churches, Procter & Gamble Company, SAMs Club, Enterprise Car Rental Grant, Hands of Hope Scholarship (J. Nathan Paige), Chick-Fil-A, Judy Jimmerson (Albany Technical College Tote Bags), Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Dr. Charles King, Sr., Atty. John Litman, Dr. “Tripp” Morgan, Dr. Ronnie Arrington, Bush Self-Storage, Belk’s Charity Sale, Memory Books & More (Yvonne Sherman), Dougherty High Jobs for GA Graduates and Terrell High FBLA among others.