Walk a Mile in Someone’s Shoes is a local project that began in June 2016, and is dedicated to outfitting children in need of footwear - both locally and overseas. What started as an initiative to raise funds and awareness for people who do not have access to proper footwear, has evolved into much more.
Seventeen-year-old Molly Miller partnered with local business owner Celeste Needham, who operates Talaria Footwear and Adornment, to organize a walkathon, which was held on June 18th, 2016. This event raised an incredible $7000, and the funds were used to ship footwear to Haiti and India, and to provide shoes to school-aged children in need at all of Kimberley’s SD6 schools; and in cases of extremely high need, their families as well.
In addition to the funds raised from the walkathon, a local shoe drive was carried out as well, which resulted in shoes being donated by Kimberley residents. These shoes went to the Haiti Arise organization, which sends local volunteers to Haiti each year in order to provide medical services to those in need. These volunteers personally handed out the shoes while on a mission to Haiti in October, 2016. Additionally, shoes were shipped to India and used to outfit children in an orphanage, some of whom had never owned a pair of shoes before.
One of the major contributors to the project was Talaria Footwear and Adornment, who matched dollar-for-dollar the $2,500 in personal pledges that Molly received. Talaria Footwear also donated an additional $5,500 to the project when it was realized that the needs in our own community were much higher than anticipated. Marysville PAC, Lindsay Park PAC and Selkirk’s ‘Free the Children’ were also generous contributors: each donated $500 to the initiative. Kimberley residents also supported the project by collecting donations and participating in the walkathon.
Celeste Needham has seen a significant increase in community needs over the two years that she has been working alongside local schools to outfits students in footwear. There are many children and youth who, because of economic barriers, are without warm winter footwear or proper athletic shoes. Both Celeste and Molly are dedicated to continuing the project and giving back to our community in impactful ways.
In order to see Walk a Mile’s continued success, monetary donations are valuable and incredibly helpful. 100 per cent of the funds collected will be used to continue outfitting both local Kimberley children and children abroad in much-needed footwear, which is imperative for safety, disease prevention, and comfort. If you or someone you know might be interested in donating to the Walk a Mile project, Molly would love to hear from you: you can contact her directly at 250-427-6210, or emailing her at 2000stepswithmolly@gmail.com.
Additionally, another shoe drive will be carried out in Kimberley, beginning this spring, so that the Haiti Arise volunteers can deliver much-needed shoes on their next mission, scheduled for October, 2018. This group of doctors and nurses who volunteer at a clinic in Haiti treat locals in need of care, and also train Haitian physicians to work at the clinic in the future, in an effort to ensure better health care for Haitians for generations to come.
Since the shoes will be going to people who walk long distances over various terrain, donations of hiking, running, and walking shoes or walking sandals are all needed. Women, children, and men in the area are all in need, so all sizes of footwear would be greatly appreciated. Donation boxes will be set up at the All Saints Anglican Church, Kimberley Helping Hands Food Bank, Talaria Footwear in the Platzl, and Kootenay Savings Credit Union. Anyone able to donate gently used shoes are kindly asked to drop their donations off at one of these sites.
Molly and Celeste have spearheaded an important initiative, but in order to secure long-lasting success, it truly does take a village to come together and help those in need. Kimberley has always proven to be a town with a thriving and generous community spirit – and this is an exciting opportunity for us to put it to great use.