KINGMAN – A Las Vegas businessman working to develop the Entrata community along US 93 is helping provide new shoes and socks for more than 200 children in northern Arizona. Al Barbarich and his wife Lauren have been involved with the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation serving southern Nevada for a decade, and committed to extend the program to a handful of rural Mohave county towns.
“We’re just thankful for the opportunity to give something back to the local communities out there, all the kids from Dolan Springs, White Hills, Chloride and Meadview,” Barbarich said. “It’s just something that we’ve been involved with for a long time and we really wanted to bring it out to Dolan Springs because I don’t think they normally have something like this.”
Barbarich thanked Mt. Tipton Elementary school Principal Robert Brantingham and Instructional Academic Coach Shelly Reed for embracing the partnership and their support in registering kids for the Jan. 10 sneaker give away. Students attending Mt. Tipton and their siblings up to 12th grade in age are eligible to pick out a pair of brand-new tennis shoes to take home, along with six new pairs of socks and a dental kit.
“It’s very well received by the parents and the kids are pretty excited about it too,” Reed said. She said the older kids appreciate that they will choose their shoes themselves.
Personal shoe selection is guaranteed, provided a proper fit is ensured. That component is an important piece for the Foundation.
“One of their goals is to empower the kids. They call it the power of choice,” Barbarich explained. “In a lot of cases some underprivileged kids have never gotten to pick out their own new shoes or much of anything else. They get hand-me-downs or whatever is available.”
Approximately 35 Foundation volunteers from southern Nevada and 50 more local volunteers from Mohave County will be involved in the campaign, including Dist. 4 supervisor Don Martin and his predecessor, the newly retired Jean Bishop.
“The Foundation has what I call a mobile shoe store. Basically, it’s a big semi-truck that has shoe racks and it kind of looks like a mobile Foot Locker on wheels,” Barbarich said. “When it rolls up, they have a system where the kids come out in groups and take turns picking out their shoes and work with one of the volunteers to make sure they fit properly.”
Reed said 226 kids were signed up by Christmas, and she expressed hope registration would approach or exceed 250 by giveaway day.
A $10,000 sponsorship donation from the Barbarich family, along with Foundation and volunteer involvement, makes possible the Jan. 10 distribution fun from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m., at the Mt. Tipton school campus. The event is not open to the public. Mt. Tipton students and their siblings may attend if they are registered and have a parent permission slip submitted in advance of the event.
Dave Hawkins
