Children receive new shoes through local project

All God's Children Shall Have Shoes has outfitted more than 600 children with new sturdy shoes and a package of warm socks for the winter.

The 30-year-old grass-roots project is run entirely by volunteers in partnership with Payless Shoe Source and Famous Footwear stores in Alton Square Mall.

Recently, seven busloads of preschoolers showed up to choose shoes and socks for their feet. Becky and Butch Chapel were among more than a dozen volunteers on hand to greet them, measure their feet, and personally help them pick out and fit a pair of shoes. After making their choice, the children were given a package of new socks and were able to choose a plush toy.

"We've been volunteering for this project for a long time," Butch Chapel said. "It's a very worthy cause."

Becky Chapel agreed. She said the children always are so grateful, and the organizers run an efficient operation.

The project's roots started in Springfield, Ill., said Pat Kramer of Godfrey. Her husband, Jack Kramer, and his friend, Jack Bailey, were linemen for Illinois Bell, now AT&T, in 1978 when they heard a story that became a call to action.

She quoted her husband, who said, "No child should have to stay home (from school) because they don't have shoes."

Kramer and Bailey learned that linemen on the job in Springfield were raising donations and working with school nurses to identify children in need of a better pair of shoes. School districts provided bus transportation to the shoe store.

The project, called All Children Shall Have Shoes, was started in the early 1960s by a former Illinois Bell plant technician and his co-workers, according to the AT&T Pioneers website.

Pioneers is a volunteer network established in 1911.

Kramer and Bailey led their local Pioneers group in carrying on the cause in Alton, knowing that there was a need in their own community.

Since then, Ford and Colleen Green and their daughter, Ellen Huber, kept the torch lit and expanded their fund-raising from the Pioneer group to the community at large.

Ten years ago, they got Jon Wooden involved. Today, they are the primary organizers.

"I think God has really put him there," Pat Kramer said.

Wooden was a student of Ellen Huber's, daughter of the Greens. She offered extra credit to anyone who volunteered for the project. Wooden took the offer and was hooked.

"What I got hooked on is seeing a child with a sock on one foot and not on the other, or they are dirty or have holes," Wooden said. "They're innocent children."

Ford Green explained that they want to do more but don't have the funds. Wooden immediately went to his friend, Patrick "Doc" Halliday, who he calls the "Fund-raiser King," and got him involved.

Together, they reached out to local businesses for support and have increased the number of shoes that they are able to buy each year. This fall, they held a fund-raiser at their business and raised $10,000 for the project. This, combined with donations from businesses such as Freer Auto Body, support the cause, which has no overhead, thanks to volunteers.

Today, the project serves Illinois students in school districts throughout northern Madison County and in Jerseyville, with plans to expand into Granite City and Venice through Riverbend Head Start and Family Services. The nonprofit serves nearly 450 vulnerable children age 5 and younger in that area.

Halliday and Wooden said they hope to expand the project and provide more shoes, as well as coats and outerwear accessories. Donations can be sent to Halliday at Atlantis Pools in Alton.

Poised to take on such an expansion are Wooden's daughters, Bethany, 29, and Chelsey, 26. They manage the donations, coordinate volunteers, plan fund-raisers and communicate needs through the Atlantis Pools Facebook page. They claim that word-of-mouth is the best method for raising support.

"It's a family mission," Chelsey said.

Bethany explained that they were happy to step up and help the Greens continue this tradition.

"This gift amazed us," said Gene Howell, operations director for Riverbend Head Start, a nonprofit preparing at-risk children for kindergarten through education, social and health services.

"Even though these kids are so young, they still feel great pride when they have a new pair of shoes and socks to wear out in the world," Howell said. "You can see it on their face; they feel good. And when you feel good, you do well in school and life."

Tawnya Hooper, a volunteer for All God's Children Shall Have Shoes through the Junior League of Greater Alton, is also an investigator with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. She knows firsthand the benefits of the project on children with great needs.

"It helps them feel better about themselves," Hooper said. "It helps alleviate the parent's stress over trying to find the money to buy a new pair of shoes. They feel better going to school with a new pair of shoes and clean socks."