20 Jan This shoe certainly fits
Students from Carlile Elementary School were all smiles Saturday after some special treatment at Payless ShoeSource, where they received a new pair of pumped-up kicks.
Pueblo Posada partnered with Payless Gives to provide the free shoes to 58 kids in Carlile’s After School Adventures group. Students were given $20 vouchers to exchange for shoes.
This is the third year Posada has put on this event.
Isaiah Cordova, a 7-year-old first-grader, marched out of the store Saturday with bright blue tennis shoes.
He and his mother Gina Cordova browsed the store isles until Isaiah found the perfect fit.
“He is very excited,” Cordova said.
“This is a great program. Shoes for kids can get expensive. Kids go through a lot of shoes. Especially boys, they are really hard on shoes.”
Mackenzie McCants, 6, wanted to pick her own shoes, but soon looked to her mother Olympia Moore for help.
The smiling first-grader grabbed a pair of pink shoes off the rack and tried them on.
Payless donated the vouchers. Representatives from Posada then handed them out to the kids.
Carlile is a Title I school, meaning at least 80 percent of the children are at or below poverty level.
“It’s very important for the children because sometimes parents can’t afford to get them new shoes,” said LaTanya Yarbrough, a Posada case manager.
“This is Posada’s way of not only giving back to our clients, but also giving back to the community as a whole.”
anthonym@chieftain.com