Share the Spirit Shoes Distributed

Students at J & N Shoes

This past Friday, October 24^th, was like an early Christmas for a lot of area school kids.  They received a free pair of new shoes of their choice, paid for by the proceeds raised by the Share the Spirit fundraiser held earlier this month at Amache Farms.

Searching for the Perfect Shoe

Close to $28,000 was raised from the Sip and Savor event on October 11^th which offered first-class Cajun cooking, a wine bar and a live and silent auction, coordinated by Karen Voeple, co-founder of the Share the Spirit Foundation.

Voeple was on hand at J & N Shoes Friday, along with numerous volunteers as the youngsters tried on their new shoes, an annual event paid for through the foundation revenues. “We’re estimating 130 children in from Springfield, McClave, Holly, Granada and Eads,” Voepel explained.  “Youngsters from as young as four years and up from the Welcome Home Center and middle school kids from Project HOPE are on hand right now,” she said.

The money raised from the Mardi Gras themed event in October will be spread out for several events for the next two years. Voepel said the fundraiser comes every other year, but the shoe give-away is an annual event. “We’ll spend about $3,000 today and we’re fortunate that Jennifer Steward from J & N Shoes always gives us a very good discount on the shoes.  They only cost about $22 per child, but they’re all quality footwear.”

Voeple spends the funds in other areas through the year, “We will outfit the library’s donated bookmobile into the Shoe-Cruiser and stock it for deliveries for about $2,000 and we also sponsor several families for gifts each Christmas and we host the HOPE Center Christmas party where every child receives a new gift.”

Voeple is already looking at a new fundraising event for Share the Spirit, “We don’t have anything definite right now for next year, perhaps just a small event and we’ll let people rest up a bit before 2016. The food tasting went well and perhaps we can bring members of the Denver Culinary Arts School to town to hold classes combined with a tasting event, but nothing is definite at this point.”

By Russ Baldwin