Valley club finds the shoe that fits

Children have come to class in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley wearing the ill-fitting shoes of their siblings or parents because they don’t have any of their own.

Sometimes students mend tears in their shoes with duct tape since their families don’t have money to replace them.

Those needs are among those that a not-for-profit group is trying to meet with a footwear drive called “Crew’s Shoes for Kids,” which is entering its second year.

The LC Crew, a group of 20 male professionals, has set an annual goal of raising $10,000 to purchase 400 pairs of shoes that are given to children in Lewiston, Clarkston and Asotin, said Ben Larsen, a member of the group and project manager at Castellaw & Kom Architects in Lewiston.

The club began the project after talking with educators seeking a way to help kids that didn’t duplicate work of other philanthropic organizations, whose efforts include providing necessities such as food and coats to people who can’t afford them.

“The gap seemed to be with shoes,” Larsen said. “Immediately that seemed to be the response we were getting back from all three (school) districts.”

Organizing a shoe drive appealed to Larsen and his fellow club members for a variety of reasons, he said.

Shoes are typically one of the most expensive items in anyone’s closet and often don’t last long with children, either because they play hard or grow out of them quickly.

When people’s shoes are the wrong size, it makes them more prone to getting injured in a number of ways, such as tripping and falling. And children have a tendency to judge each other based on the logo on their shoes.

“It really is a nice foundation for a kid to tie up a fresh pair of shoes as they head out for the school day,” Larsen said.

In the first year, the LC Crew members bought the shoes themselves and found deals at a number of places, such as the going-out-of-business sale at Shopko.

They used the same standards they do to select shoes for their own children and purchased sturdy, name-brand shoes.

Now they have shifted to giving money to funds in the school districts dedicated to shoes, which are to be bought following the criteria established in the first year.

That makes it possible to get the shoes to the children who need them more quickly, sometimes within 24 hours of the need being identified, Larsen said.

Their fundraising, which includes a recent $10,000 grant from the Lewis-Clark Valley Healthcare Foundation, is successful enough they are looking to expand, adding socks and winter boots, he said.

Club members will also continue to look for other causes to champion on behalf of children, something they’ve been doing informally since the group was founded in 2013, said Sam Canner, a founder of the LC Crew and business development executive at Blue Cross of Idaho.

It started as a small group of guys who would meet about once a month, often swapping stories about raising children, Larsen said.

Gradually it grew to have representation from a wide number of professions, a diversity the LC Crew aims to preserve when it adds new members, Canner said.

Among those who belong now are club president John Fairley, director of imaging services at Tri-State Memorial Hospital in Clarkston, and club vice-president Troy Ledgerwood, president of the Credit Bureau of Lewiston-Clarkston.

The evolution also involved formally becoming a nonprofit in 2016, in no small part so that club members could have a two-for-one benefit of socializing and doing something to improve the community at gatherings, Larsen said.

Besides providing shoes to children, the LC Crew organizes an annual swap of ski gear so families don’t have to purchase the expensive equipment new each year.

It also sponsors an annual free night at the Asotin County Family Aquatic Center with complimentary refreshments that’s advertised at places such as Headstart and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Lewis Clark Valley.

A single outing to that pool can easily cost a family $40 or more, Larsen said.

“We have heard from kids that it is a highlight event of a children’s summer,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine, but it’s the truth of the matter.”

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 553-8482.