Piles of shoes shuffle off to non-profit, thanks to efforts by local family and Fleet Feet in downtown Menlo Park

This is a story about how one pair of shoes led to another and another — 92 pairs in fact. That’s the number that the Collins family of Menlo Park donated recently to My New Red Shoes.

“Family” is the operative word. “We believe that the way to create a legacy of altruism is to involve the whole family,” said Kristine Collins (the mom). “We were looking for a project, and one day we were buying shoes for the boys, and the idea popped into our mind to buy an extra pair of shoes. Then last year we had shoes piling up in the garage, and someone suggested donating them to My New Red Shoes.”

At this point, our story shifts to Fleet Feet in Menlo Park, and the involvement of employee David Lewin-Rowen. David, who grow up in Menlo Park and is back in town after attending American University, heard that a family was in the market for shoes and did some digging at the store. He unearthed 75 pairs of shoes.

“What they [the Collins] did was rather amazing to the staff here,” said David.  “The shoes were on clearance at the store after our annual Connoisseurs Market sale, and we dropped the price even further because it was such a great cause.”

Adam, age 8, commented that he tried to picture a face for every pair of shoes. Added his 11-year-old brother, Ian: “I like the idea that the kids get shoes that fit them.”

For her part, Kristine wanted to make sure to give a particular shout out to David: “He was so helpful to us. He really connected with the boys and the project.”

Photo by Irene Searles