REGION : Homeless Children Get Shoes Thanks to Holiday Drive
A podiatrist from St. John’s Hospital is making sure that homeless children are well-heeled for the holidays.
With the help of the Stride Rite shoe store chain and students from the John Thomas Dye school in Bel-Air, Dr. Michael Levi has collected more than 500 pairs of children’s shoes over the past few weeks. He donated them to Para Los Ninos, a family support center in Downtown Los Angeles.
Though the main thrust of the holiday shoe drive--”Shoes for the Needy”--ended last week, Levi says he is still accepting donations.
Stride Rite donated 300 new pairs and set up collection bins in its Los Angeles area stores for used shoes. Students from the John Thomas Dye school donated an additional 200 pairs, and Levi also received an unspecified number of donations from employees of St. John’s Hospital.
This holiday children’s shoe drive is a special twist on an ongoing project that Levi started in 1990. A volunteer at the Venice Family Clinic, Levi noticed that many of the homeless patients he treated went barefoot.
“People usually donate clothes, not shoes,” he explained.
To donate shoes, contact Levi at (310) 829-3636.
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