First of all, thank you for connecting needy children to Laces of Love shoes! You are wonderful, and your help is greatly appreciated.
When you receive new shoes from Laces of Love, please give the shoes to children you know to be in need. Please make sure the children and their parents know the shoes are a gift from Laces of Love. By our charter, “Laces” shoes may only be given to children, birth to 18 years of age.
When you need shoes, please contact me at jnealon@lacesoflove.org. Thank you, again, for all the work you do for kids in our community and for helping needy kids connect with Laces of Love.
Educator Q & A
How are children selected to receive shoes? Who is eligible and how are they referred?
Children are selected for Laces of Love shoes by their school counselor, school nurse, teacher, or principal or by a staff member or Executive Director of a non-for profit organization serving the child.
The adult will measure the child’s feet for proper fit and let Laces of Love know the child’s age, sex, and shoe size. If we don’t already have appropriate shoes on hand from recent shoe drives or shoe parties, Laces of Love “buyers” will purchase shoes for the child and deliver them to the counselor or adult who made the request. The child will then be called to the office, fitted, and given their NEW shoes. All shoes have a Laces of Love tag on them so the child can show his or her parents that he has received “Laces” shoes.
We ask that the child write a thank you note or draw a picture of their new shoes and send their thank you to Laces of Love.
We usually have a few key volunteers at each school who facilitate Laces of Love distributions.
Our school has a large population of needy and low-income children; can we request more shoes?
Yes, we deliver shoes all year to Collier and Lee County schools and non-profit organizations.
Our school would like a Back to School supply of shoes. Whom should we contact?
Our biggest delivery time is in August –at the start of school. Please email jnealon@lacesoflove.org early to get your back to school shoes delivered on time.
How do I figure out what sizes to request?
If you can’t figure out what size a child needs, please check his or her current shoes and add one (or possibly 1 ½ or 2) sizes. For Back to School, we send a selection of the most common sizes for your students’ ages.
How can I help Laces of Love?
Tell everyone you know! Pass on our information and give out our website: www.lacesoflove.org. You might also host a Shoe Party and invite your personal friends, support a School Shoe Drive, take classroom Shoe Donations, or plan PTO Coffees with a speaker from Laces of Love. Pass our name on to anyone who is interested in helping kids or needs a speaker. Please consider a Teacher Shoe Party! The shoes may be given directly back to the needy children in your school! We’ll be glad to help with the details.
Request Shoes
Shoe requests can be emailed to jnealon@lacesoflove.org or submitted using the form below. We distribute shoes in this area, and have sizes and others from 1 to 2.
We Love Stories!
We enjoy hearing about children who receive Laces of Love shoes. Please send stories and little vignettes about the students to info@lacesoflove.org. We encourage children to write a thank you note or draw us a picture. Please send thank-yous to: Laces of Love, 1976 Bethany Place, Naples, Florida 34109.