Rousseau Friends and Family Chapter

We have partnered with Shoes That Fit, a national charity whose mission is “to tackle one of the most visible signs of poverty in American by giving children in need new athletic shoes to attend school with dignity and joy, prepared to learn, play, and thrive.” (If you’d like to learn more about them and the great work that they do, here is a link to the Shoes That Fit Annual Report.)

We have chosen PS 111 Jacob Blackwell, a K-8 school in Long Island City, Queens, as our school to partner and are hoping to expand our efforts in the future.

This is a meaningful and important cause to us, as Sophia explains below:

A lot of you may not know this about me, but when I was a kid, the only thing I wanted more than anything else was a brand new pair of shoes that didn’t come from the discount store, that weren’t handed down from siblings or cousins, and that didn’t pinch my feet. I remember being ashamed of walking into class with ragged soles and fraying fabric. I didn’t understand why we couldn’t afford better shoes, but I did know I spent many Sundays sitting in church, praying fervently that I could finally get a pair of nice, “cool” shoes to wear to school and show off to all the other kids. I remember the words the other kids used to call my footwear: “bo-bo” and “janky.” I still don’t exactly where these words came from, but they conveyed the intended meaning: your shoes suck. Your shoes are obviously cheap and falling apart, and therefore, you’re not worthy of walking among the rest of us. I felt small.

I remember, just once, this beautiful pair of athletic sneakers got passed down to me. They were Asics, I think. They were white with some sort of red stripes, and man, they were COOL. When we opened the bag of donated clothes and shoes, I saw them instantly and snatched them up before any of my sisters could lay claim to them. I was so quick, and they were mine. The perfect shoe. Almost. The perfect shoe was actually one size too small. But did I care? I shoved my feet into them and instantly felt powerful. That feeling soared for approximately two seconds and then turned into a lightening streak of pain. My toes were pinched into the top of the shoes and were starting to go numb.

Although I am now an adult and no longer feel like a slave to popular opinion of what’s cool, I can still recall that hot flush of embarrassment I felt whenever anyone looked at my shoes. Why am I telling you all of this? It's because it has always been on my heart to do what I can to help. And I think I found a way. Tim and I have been incredibly lucky, and we are so excited to start a Queens Chapter of Shoes That Fit, which is a wonderful organization that provides new sneakers to children because, as the organization has identified, shoes are one of the most obvious external markers of poverty. What kid should have to bear that burden?

We can only do this with your support, and we are asking it because we believe in this project so much, and we know how much of a difference something as basic as a pair of shoes can make. Something “new, cool, and that belongs to them.” That’s it. That’s the pitch. Help us make just one kid feel confident enough to walk into school and try a little bit harder that day. Just one kid finally feel the courage to try out for a sports team. Just one kid feel good about themselves.

We are currently planning on doing two donation drives per year: one in the fall semester and one in the spring semester. Each semester, the school will provide us with the names and shoes sizes of the students who we can help. We will then provide the information of one student to each of our supporters, who will then buy one pair of shoes and have them shipped to us. When we have received all of the shoes, we will visit the school and deliver the shoes.

If you are interested in helping by providing a pair of shoes to a student in need, please click below to sign up to be on our team.

In January 2021, we completed our inaugural effort by delivering 24 pairs of shoes to students at PS 111. You can see some pictures of our delivery on the school’s website.

For our next effort, our goal is to provide 31 pairs of shoes this fall. Why 31? Because that’s 10% of the school’s population. Depending on need and the level of support we receive, we would like to increase the number of students who we help each year, including by expanding to additional schools if possible.