Chula Vista police officers are putting shoes and socks on the feet of Chula Vista Elementary School District students.
The seventh annual School Resource Officer Non-Profit Shoes and Socks Give-Away wants to give away 500 hundred shoes and socks to low-income students and their families.
Last year, officers gave out about 300 shoes and socks with the aid of the Chula Vista community, said officer Natalie Caceres.
Each year school resource officers work closely with school principals, school nurses and South Bay Community Services counselors to identify boys and girls under 18 years of age who live, go to school or attend counseling services in Chula Vista.
Caceres said not only will the students be awarded shoes and socks, so will their families.
“We want to make sure that the family is taking care of, it’s not just the child,” she said.
The purpose of the shoe and sock drive is to help combat bullying and teasing on a school campus, Caceres said.
She said many times children who cannot afford to go back-to-school shopping are subject to being bullied at school.
“There’s kids that are struggling out there,” she said. “The fact that they don’t have what others have like new shoes or new clothes, they get teased and struggle throughout the school year.”
The Chula Vista Police Department are requesting monetary donations to provide shoes and socks for 500 boys and girls.
“We at least try to take that burden off that way we can help them fit in a little bit better that way they don’t get teased,” Caceres said.
To help provide footwear to these children, send a monetary donation to the Chula Vista Police Department, ATTN: Officer Caceres, SRO Unit 315 Fourth Avenue Chula Vista, CA 91910.
Checks should be made payable to “Chula Vista Police Foundation,” with “SRO Shoe and Sock event” on the memo section.
The Chula Vista Police Foundation is a 501 (c)3 tax exempt organization and all donations are taxable deductible.
Identified children will be invited to the Payless Shoe Source on 555 Broadway in the Chula Vista Shopping Center on Sept. 16 at 8 a.m.
Caceres said it feels good to make these children happy.
“Just being out there shopping with the kids and helping them pick out their new shoes you can just see the light in their eyes and the smiles,” she said. “It’s definitely heart-warming to see that.”
