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.