Nicola Smith with a basket of shoes. Photo / David Haxton
Nicola Smith with a basket of shoes. Photo / David Haxton
Nicola Smith was coordinating netball at Paraparaumu School when she noticed that a couple of the players were short on shoes.
Smith said the cost of buying new shoes can be expensive, especially at a time when parents and caregivers need to also pay sports fees, so in May she officially started up the Kāpiti Kids Sport Shoe Bank.
“I have two primary school children myself and am aware that the cost of a brand-new pair of shoes can be a significant outlay for some families on top of sports fees.”
The idea is to take in secondhand, sport shoe donations that are in good condition from the public and give them out to anyone who needs a pair, no questions asked.
“I thought it would be awesome to have a place to donate shoes that kids have grown out of, and to be able to pass them on to someone else to reduce costs around kids getting into sports.
“Lots of kids in the area need shoes so it’s been pretty popular.”
Smith said there is no income testing or criteria, and anyone who needs shoes can just get in touch with her via the Kāpiti Kids Sport Shoe Bank Facebook page.
“I want to get shoes donated and passed on to whoever can use them.”
Shoes awaiting a new pair of feet. Photo / David Haxton
There are drop-off points for donations available at the Paraparaumu School office, the Waikanae Baptist Church, and at 2 Fincham Rd in Raumati Beach.
Recently, there was also the addition of a Saturday drop-off point at Te Atiawa Netball Courts Pavilion in Paraparaumu Beach.
Smith said she would like to add more drop-off points too, especially in Ōtaki and Paekākāriki.
Once she picks up the shoes from the drop-off points, Smith takes them back to her Paraparaumu home and washes, dries, and sorts them.
Then about once a week, or once a fortnight, she posts each pair on the Facebook page and local community social media pages, and people can message the page to claim one.
She also advertises the shoe bank on the radio and said school newsletters have also been good at getting the word out.
And picking up the shoes is easy too. Smith simply leaves the pair outside her house, and then the new owner can pick them up.
A lot of the donations she gets are brand new, and some of them are branded too.
Since May, she has collected well over 200 pairs of shoes and has given out between 80 and 100 pairs to Kāpiti children, and even some Porirua children too.
And she said there is a need to expand the shoe bank too.
Currently, Smith is mainly dealing with primary children’s shoes, but she said there have been quite a few people asking about secondary school children too, so they need more shoes in bigger sizes.
She wants to encourage people who need shoes to message the Facebook page and consider donating unneeded sport shoes.
You can visit the Kāpiti Kids Sport Shoe Bank Facebook page here.
