A local Sugar Land resident has taken it into her own hands to help Fort Bend children get new shoes. Or rather, she’s taken it onto her own feet.

Leola Anifowoshe is the founder of Shoes4School, a division of Keep Kids in School, Inc., a 501 (3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization, the only shoe charity of its kind in the Fort Bend area and surrounding counties. She and a group of volunteers strive to provide new shoes for area homeless and low-income children.

In order to spread awareness of the cause, Leola and her husband organized the “Sole Fest Concert 2009,” the organization's first ever music festival and health fair held at Oyster Creek park located at 4033 Hwy 6 in Sugar Land, only about 8 miles from the RiverPark West community.

Events will last from 4-8pm on August 15th, with local artist performances by Carlos Huey, Juda Myers of Judah for Praise, Tquan Moore and the Lazer Vision Band. Songwriter and producer Carlos Huey will be the MC of the event, and will sing an original song he composed specifically for Shoes4School, called “Bless My Sole.” All proceeds from the song will benefit the organization. Fun activities for children will also be available, including moonwalks, an activity zone and giveaways.

Shoes4School is still looking for food and water vendors for the event, as well as ‘Sole Mates’, which are businesses, organizations or individuals “who want to stand and make a difference by helping to collect shoes, supplies and donations,” said Anifowoshe. “Currently the organization receives about 1,000 pairs of shoes a month, but seeks to collect 5,000 shoes per month to meet the needs in the community.”

Shoes4School only accepts donations of new shoes. “People ask us why we only accept new shoes and we tell them that many of these children have always only received used shoes,” she said. “One little girl who received shoes from [us] described it as the first time she owned anything new and said she had always received hand-me-downs from her older sisters.”

The “Sole Fest Concert 2009” will also be providing backpacks and other school supplies. Shoes4School also encourages children to adopt active lifestyles to combat childhood obesity through its Mission for Nutrition Program.

Tax deductible contributions can be made to Keep Kids in School, P.O. Box 2692, Stafford, TX 77497. To learn more about this worthy cause, or to register as a ‘Sole Mate’, please visit www.shoes4school.org. You can also contact info@shoes4schools.org or call 281-947-0466 for more information.

Read the full article at Houston Community Newspapers.

Source: Fort Bend Sun