Clarkston Rotary's "Shoes for Kids" held on Saturday, December 8th invited 436 Clarkston school children to attend the event and receive new shoes, winter boots, hats and gloves. The Clarkston Area Lions provided free eye exams and the Clarkston Optimists gave new socks to each child. Fifteen local dentists donated toothbrushes and toothpaste to promote better dental hygiene. MPK Photography ended a perfect day by taking a family portrait or a sitting with Santa at no cost to the family. Santa listened intently to a lengthy request list.
 
"Shoes for Kids" began with a setup by 50 volunteers at Oakland Woods Baptist Church on Maybee Road on Friday night, December 7th in preparation for Saturday. 
On Saturday, December 8th, 140 volunteers volunteered in two hour shifts and stayed until the last child left around 3:30 PM. Various assignments included checking in families, the hat & glove room, selecting socks, shoe inventory, shoe helpers, shoe fitters, and guides.  
 
The Clarkston Rotary would like to thank all of the volunteers who took time out of their busy December schedule to help make “Shoes for Kids” a reality again this year.  
  
Background:
For the past 78 years the Clarkston Rotary has proudly sold a published newspaper for donations on the streets of Clarkston. During the first 38 years were primarily focused on providing Clarkston families with Holiday food baskets, Christmas gifts and funds for medical issues, heating and lights. During the past 40 years our club's "Shoes for Kids" program has been providing new shoes, winter boots, hats and gloves to Clarkston children.
Over the past 21 years over 8,400 children have participated in the distribution project, thousands of volunteers have committed their time and the Clarkston community has generously donated of $275,000. 100% of the donation directly support the yearly program.
 
For more information regarding the programs or volunteering in the future please call Clarkston Rotarian Joel or Mindy DeLong at 248-625-9741