Team up for a good cause: Subaru Loves to Help aids needy children

Initiative provides footwear

Family Services Inc. partnered with Stuckey Subaru for a good cause, distributing new footwear to children in need at the Teen Center and Shelter Wednesday evening.

Socks and shoes were provided by the Subaru Loves to Help initiative, in partnership with Subaru of America and Operation Warm, a "national nonprofit focused on connecting children with resources needed to thrive," Stuckey Automotive Marketing Director Karen Beauchamp wrote in a release.

"Every little bit helps," said one Altoona foster mother who stopped by to pick up three pairs of free socks and shoes.

The foster mother, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the event helped her financially because now she won't need to buy the youngest three of her seven children new shoes. Her four oldest children were sized out of the program and given referral cards to Angel Feet Ministry at the Juniata United Methodist Church.

"I'm a single mom, so every little bit helps," she said. "I appreciate what they're doing."

Another mom, whose fourth-grader son attends Juniata Elementary School, said that "it doesn't hurt to have an extra pair" of shoes.

"He goes through shoes like crazy," she said.

The mom said that she usually goes to Angel Feet, but since it's held on Saturdays, she hasn't gotten the chance.

"This is great, I love this," she said of the event.

A grandmother also stopped in to pick up a pair of shoes for her son's daughter after learning of the event.

"It'll help them be able to buy more diapers," she said.

Beauchamp wrote that these items are essential because they "keep children protected, warm and dry" and can "have a significant impact on a child's mental and emotional well-being."

"These items can mean the difference between going to school or not, between participating in activities or sitting out," Beauchamp wrote. "No child should ever have to face those circumstances."

About a half an hour into the event, around 50 of their 346 pairs of shoes had been given out, said Family Services Executive Director Lisa Hann. Volunteers had also put together 75 pairs of gloves with candy bars, of which only seven were left.

"They're very appreciative," Hann said of the families. "People have told their friends, they've come and gotten their shoes and went home and got somebody else and said 'you have to go get these.' There have been fairly large families and we've gotten families with one kid."

Hann said that if they can provide shoes for these children, it frees up their guardians' money for other necessities like groceries, rent, laundry or hygiene supplies.

"We appreciate Stuckey's for even considering us because they could have chosen any nonprofit in town," Hann said. "But they are very supportive of Family Services and of the Teen Center, so if they ask us again, we'll do it again."

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.