The Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) club needs your help in bringing more shoes and socks to underprivileged youth.
The “Shoes 4 Kids” incentive is a charity between PTA programs nationwide that try to collect gently used shoes and socks for donation. For anyone who wants to donate shoes and socks, there are “Shoes 4 Kids” boxes set around the campus, or you can give them to a PTA member.
This year was the first time that the PTA worked with Sinclair Community College’s Athletic Department for a “Shoes 4 Kids game.” On Feb. 26, when Sinclair’s men’s and women’s basketball teams played Lakeland Community College, spectators could receive free admission and receive a ticket for raffle prizes that were given out during halftime of the men’s and women’s basketball game for donating.
PTA club member Skip Taylor believes that the “Shoes 4 Kids” game was a success, and helped the PTA club charity.
“During the game we received around 30 pairs of shoes and socks,” Taylor said. “We also received cash donations from spectators who were not aware of our charity. Anything we receive goes towards the ‘Shoes 4 Kids’ incentive.”
Some of the prizes that people could have received included a framed photo of Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman, gift cards that ranged between $5-$15 from Cold Stone Creamery, McDonalds, and Kroger’s and 16 30-day memberships from LA Fitness, among other things.
“We received multiple items from Aramark, a free voucher for a class and t-shirt from Kleptz YMCA, and a signed basketball from Sinclair’s men’s and women’s basketball teams to give away in the raffle,” Taylor said. “In total we received around 20 door prizes from different companies.”
The PTA club was also raffling off an autographed baseball bat from Major League Baseball’s (MLB) all-time hits leader and former Cincinnati Red, Pete Rose.
“The bats come with a certificate of authenticity so it’s proven they are real,” Taylor said.
The PTA club at Sinclair was the number one supplier of shoes and socks for the “Shoes 4 Kids” program last year in the nation, and is working hard to top their mark from last year. They had over 100 pairs of shoes and socks last year total, as of now we have between 50-60 according to Taylor. People can donate until May 20.
“We would like to thank Jack Giambrone and Sinclair’s Athletic Department, our sponsors who supplied door prizes, and our PTA chairperson Deb Belcher for helping support us,” Taylor said. “We would like to send a special thank you for people who have donated shoes and cash, hopefully people can continue to help us reach our goals and donate as many shoes as possible to a great cause.”