6TH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOES GIVEAWAY

Six years ago we decided to help children in Manatee County by buying them new shoes for Christmas. We bought shoes for 150 kids the first year and in the years between it grew to 750 kids last year, in 2016. Help us repeat this again in 2017  with a goal of 1,000 kids. Most of these children will recieve no other gift this year. We had been adopting families of many of our volunteers rental propertys only to have gifts left when they moved ,and wish list were getting expensive items like playstations,very expensive shoes,and games.While waiting for a meeting and hearing the news of a family friend passing away from cancer ,i recieved a call that a family we were adopting had moved out in the middle of the night to avoid paying rent .,now a little dejected the song Christmas Shoes came on the radio,very emotional it occured to me we see kids everyday with no shoes ,dirty,or hand me downs that dont fit properly ,so i called my friend Marc and we put the first annual shoe drive together buying shoes for 175 kids .Now 6 years later we are still at it and proud to announce.

On the Saturday before Christmas we work with a local food bank to select families who then join us at Walmart that evening where the children get to pick their own pair of shoes out themselves. The looks on their face as they find a pair of shoes on their own, is priceless . Just $20 buys a child a pair of  shoes. 100 percent of all proceeds raised goes directly to buy the shoes - we have no paid staff and take no salaries .

Please consider the children this year as you make your choice for donation during the holiday season.  We can provide you with our EIN # for a tax deduction if needed.

God Bless,
The Bower Foundation