Scott Williams swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Contributed photo A student at Shawano Community Middle School stands to get her shoe size measured by volunteers helping to organize the shoe giveaway for all students in the building.
A secret Santa is arriving early this year with an unusual but meaningful gift for students at Shawano Community Middle School: free shoes.
An unidentified shoe company has selected the middle school for a special program in which every sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade student in the building will receive a free pair of shoes.
Employees and volunteers at the school measured every student’s foot size this week, with the expectation that the free shoes will arrive sometime around Thanksgiving.
The program is based on strict rules of secrecy, requiring that the company’s name be kept under wraps along with the precise number of shoes being donated.
The anonymous gesture of generosity is touching the hearts of students and parents, even those who do not necessarily need help keeping shoes on their feet. Some families already are making plans to donate the free shoes to someone less fortunate than them.
“It’s increasing the spirit of giving around here,” said Sara Welsh, a social worker at SCMS. “We’re very fortunate to have such a supportive community.”
The idea of pursuing the free shoes came from Pastor Bob Junak of River Valley Church in Shawano. Junak runs youth programs at the church and heard about the shoe company’s giveaway this summer during an out-of-town meeting with fellow ministers.
When he learned that the program was based on school enrollment figures and a community’s economic demographics, Junak knew that Shawano had a good chance of qualifying. He decided to nominate the middle school because, he said, students at that age often feel overlooked and left out.
“I felt that they needed something special,” he said.
The school has hundreds of students, although the precise number is being withheld to avoid violating the terms of the free shoe program.
Officials at River Valley Church were notified in August that Shawano had been selected, and they began making plans to conduct the giveaway during the new academic year. The shoes will be delivered to the church and then distributed to kids during a school-wide celebration that is being planned.
Junak said he realizes some parents might not get too excited about free shoes. He hopes that everyone, however, understands the deeper meaning that River Valley Church officials intended.
“This is just to show the community, ‘Hey, we love you,’” he said.
Although officials had planned to keep the shoe giveaway hush-hush for now, word leaked out after the school sent a notice home to parents.
Charlene Milavitz, who has a daughter in seventh grade, volunteered to help measure foot sizes at the school earlier this week. Milavitz said her daughter is looking forward to seeing her new shoes, and other students, too, are excited for the special gift.
As a parent, the program is instilling Milavitz with a warm feeling about Shawano.
“I feel very blessed for our community,” she said. “I feel like it’s a wonderful opportunity for our community.”