DANA POINT : Shoe Drive for Needy Is Kicked Off

Pete Linden of San Clemente was wearing his Christmas offering when he arrived for his handball game at the Dana Point Athletic Club on Christmas Eve morning.

He was planning to take part in the club’s tennis shoe drive for the homeless, but only after his handball game. When he was done, he tossed his pair of Adidas tennis shoes atop a growing pile of used shoes of all sorts and sizes that flanked the Christmas tree at the front door.

“Actually, this will be the second pair I’ve donated,” Linden said. “I already gave away another pair exactly like these.”

Linden’s generosity was typical of many of the 1,000 or so club members who were more than eager to take part in the Christmas offering for the homeless, said club owner Dave Koch.

“We must have 300 pairs or so, and the momentum is just starting,” said Koch, 34, a San Clemente resident who has owned the 15-year-old club for the past three years. “People just kind of arrive at the front door with pairs of shoes in their hands.”

Koch gives credit for the shoe collection idea to the club’s general manager, Evelyn Brownell.

“We figured even with the tough economic times, everyone can usually come up with an extra pair of tennis shoes that have been hanging around the closet,” Koch said.

“We all tend to get caught up in Christmas shopping and partying and forget what Christmas is all about,” he added. “It’s about giving, isn’t it?”

During the collection drive, which continues through Tuesday, the club will collect used or slightly worn tennis shoes during its business hours, from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. At the end of the collection, the shoes will all go to Trabuco Canyon-based World Shoe Relief, a nonprofit organization that delivers shoes to Southern California’s homeless.

Dana Point Athletic Club is at 24470 Del Prado Ave. For information on the shoe drive, call (714) 493-0400.