Kiwanis, Sherman's Sports see need for shoes growing - BlueRidgeNow.com

<p>Every year the Kiwanis Club of Hendersonville and Sherman's Sports and Army Store team up to get shoes to needy Henderson County children, and this year the need is even greater.</p><p>Club member John Grear, who has headed up the shoe program for 12 years, said the club spends $7,000 to $8,000 on shoes at Sherman's each year. </p><p>“In 2009 we purchased about 120 pairs of shoes at Sherman's,” Grear said. “In 2010 that number shot up to 166. In 2011 it was 261. This year from October through September we've already had 150 pairs and July and August are going to be key months for demand” as kids head back to school. </p><p>“We also supply shoes to the Head Start program, and that need also increased dramatically in the 2011 year,” he said. “This year we had big demand from the little kids. The number of Head Start centers had been expanded and the demand was high. Those factors were a big deal for us.”</p><p>Grear said there's been an increase in need this year at Upward and Hendersonville elementaries.</p><p>“The schools with the most need change over the years, but there are certain school districts where the demographics are such that we'll get a higher demand from there," he said. "Rugby has historically been a school where we supply a lot, and Edneyville, too.”</p><p>Tricia Allen, public information officer for Henderson County Public Schools, said teachers and school staff refer children to the program.</p><p>“A school official, most often a teacher or counselor, notices that a child is wearing shoes that are in either extremely poor condition, are ill-fitting or grossly inappropriate for the season, for example, (wearing) sandals on very cold days," she said. "A note on the school letterhead is prepared and the child takes it to Sherman's Sports and Army Store. He or she is served like any other customer, except that Kiwanis pays the bill.”</p><p>“This is something we've been doing for since the '70s," said Sherman's owner Becky Banadyga. “We try to put them in nice shoes so they look like everybody else, which helps build their self-esteem.”</p><p>Participating in the program “just makes me smile and it touches my heart,” she added. “They get a new pair of socks to go with their new shoes, too. Sometimes a guidance counselor or teacher will come into the store with a tracing of the child's foot and ask for a new pair of socks.”</p><p>When demand for shoes began to increase, “our budget got squeezed, so we had to stop giving away a pair of socks with every pair of shoes,” Grear said. “That's when Becky stepped in and said, 'We'll cover the socks.”</p><p>Banadyga also gives the Kiwanis a 10 percent discount on every pair of shoes, including those on sale. </p><p>“Sometimes the child's parent is out of work or they've had some sort of financial difficulty and they're struggling,” she said. “Sometimes they'll tell us their stories, but most times they're private about it. They're proud.”</p><p>Grear added that, “For many of these kids it's the first new pair of shoes they've ever had in their lives. I've got a file full of thank you letters from kids saying how fast they can run in their new shoes or how excited they are at not having to put on another hand-me-down pair of shoes that's worn out already and doesn't fit right.</p><p>"Comfort and appropriateness are paramount, but another part of this is self-esteem. Kids with bad shoes are sometimes made fun of by other kids, and we never want to have a child not want to come to school just because of their shoes.”</p><p>Reach Tanker at 828-694-7871 or nancy.tanker@blueridgenow.com.</p>