Free Shoes Help Kids Get Off on Right Foot

Kindergartner Marcos Solis ran around in circles on the blacktop at California Elementary School in Orange testing out the traction on the new tennis shoes given to him by an investment company.

“They fit!” Marcos said with a big smile. “I like it. I want to take it.”

Marcos and more than a dozen other students have received new shoes from Salomon Smith Barney in Orange since October through the Shoes That Fit project, a national program providing shoes for disadvantaged students from 135 elementary schools in 25 states.

Phillip Naman, second vice president of the investment company, heard about the program through a friend and decided to join.

“It sounded like something I would like to get involved in so I brought the idea back to the office,” Naman said. “It’s a way to put something back into the community.”

Naman, who was partnered up with California Elementary, takes donations from his colleagues and buys shoes when needed for children who have been referred by their teachers and have received permission from their parents.

“We have such a need at our school, and our children can use all the help they can get,” said Martha Rivas, California Elementary community liaison.

Lynda Witeck, registered sales assistant, said she wishes she could give the students fun and frivolous gifts too but realizes necessities come first.

“I wish there was more that we can do,” Witeck said. “My kids don’t even think about [having new shoes] as being a luxury.”

California Principal Sue Dahlquist said she is happy to offer support to the families who work hard to provide for their children.

“We want the students feeling cared about and feeling this is a safe, loving place for them to go to every day,” Dahlquist said. “We get just as much back from them as they get from us.”

Marisssa Espino can be reached at (714) 966-5879