What does it take to turn an act of charity into something much, much larger?
The answer: 3,000 pairs of shoes.
With the help of over a dozen local elementary schools, Michael McDonald, a fourth year kinesiology student, and Brian Michasiw, owner of Brainsport Running Store, have gathered a mountain of used shoes so large that a small car could be parked in it without anyone even noticing.
“It’s a very real possibility,” joked McDonald.
On Saturday Oct. 24, all of the shoes will be given away to those in need of a nearly new pair, in a first-come, first-served smorgasbord of sneakers from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Mary’s Community school, at 337 Ave. O South.
The idea began several years ago, when Michasiw travelled to Kenya with over 200 pairs of shoes which were fitted and given to orphaned children and local runners. After returning home to Canada, Michasiw underwent something of a philanthropic paradigm shift. He realized that the need for shoes was almost as strong in Saskatoon as it was in Kenya.
“The Kenya story is romantic,” said Michasiw, “but I realized that there were kids in need right here in our own backyard. In our climate, shoes are a basic necessity of life.”
Two hundred pairs of shoes seemed like a lot at the time, and indeed it is. But how does one make the quantum leap from 200 to 3,000?
Appealing to the unrivalled enthusiasm of a six-year-old’s psyche, Michasiw proposed a simple contest: willing elementary schools could sign up to take part in a shoe-drive and children from the class that contribute the most shoes to the initiative will win high-quality aluminum water bottles.
Try to visualize the response you would get if you told an entire grade one class that they would each get a free water bottle — and all they had to do was bring their old shoes to class. Remember how competitive all 80 pounds of you became when you were told that your class could win a pizza lunch? Now imagine if you had been offered a $30 metal gourd the size of your torso. Pandemonium!
In addition to the massive contributions put forth by elementary schools, several shoe-donation bins were stationed around the city: one at the PAC, one at the Fieldhouse and one on Broadway Avenue, just outside of Brainsport. To say they proved to be a success would not do justice to the immense giving-spirit of the anonymous Saskatoon residents who donated pairs of shoes, sometimes as many as 10 at a time.
Week after week, the shoes kept piling in and with every pair came a renewed sense of hope for 10 more toes fearing the bite of the oncoming winter. This weekend marks the culmination of almost a year’s worth of contributions.
When asked what motivated him to become a part of the initiative, McDonald said that Michasiw had contacted him after learning about his involvement with Recess Guardians, an inner-city youth activity program.
“Working with (Recess Guardians), I know how effective physical activity can be in raising self esteem,” he said. “But how can you play with your friends when you don’t even have shoes? Some of these kids have to go outside in bare feet during a fire drill. That’s just not acceptable.”
Touché, my man. Touché.