Local Kids Start School on Strong Footing

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United Way of Eastern Utah Press Release
United Way of Eastern Utah hands out 813 pairs of shoes during 2024 pop-up shoe shop events

PRICE  – The United Way of Eastern Utah helped students start off the 2024-25 school year on a strong footing by handing out 813 pairs of new shoes during Soles2Souls Pop-Up Shoe Shops held in Price and Blanding this fall.

“As they face their back-to-school expenses every fall, local families tell us the pop-up shoe shops are a huge help,” said UWEU Executive Director Pam Boyd. “These events are also one of our favorite programs. It is a great to see a kid’s eyes light up when you hand him or her a new pair of shoes”

In addition to the Soles2Souls event, volunteers from Accension St. Matthews Church handed out gently used coats at the Price event this year. Sixty-eight kids took home coats at the event.

Boyd noted the intent of the program is to solve a very real-world issue that many students in the United Way if Eastern Utah service area – Carbon, Emery, San Juan, Grand, Uintah, Duchesne and Daggett counties – face.

“When a kid heads off to school wearing a pair of used or worn-out shoes, chances are a lot of his or her attention is focused on sore feet. We want kids to be able to focus on lessons, not uncomfortable footwear and the whole focus of Soles2Souls is to solve that problem.”

For the 2024-24 fiscal year, the United Way of Eastern Utah will spend nearly $20,000 on the Soles2Souls program. That money comes from workplace donations made by employees of the Hunter and Huntington power plants as well as grant dollars, most notably from the San Juan Clean Energy Foundation.

“Without these partners, we wouldn’t be able to fund Soles2Souls, especially as the program has grown from year to year,” Boyd said. “We are also very grateful to the volunteers who come out to help measure feet and hand out shoes at the pop-up events. Those volunteers always tell us how much they loved being part of the event. Like I said, handing a kid a brand-new pair of shoes is a pretty great feeling.”

While the pop-up shops are done for the year, Boyd said that the United Way of Eastern Utah will continue to help kids who need shoes. When a student arrives at school in inadequate shoes, teachers and counselors reach out to the local office to arrange a shoe delivery. More than a dozen special requests have already been fulfilled this year. Additionally, Boyd said fund-raising has already begun for the 2025 events which will return to Price in August and Blanding in September.

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