Bandon rotary club helping kids one step at a time

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Story Published: Apr 22, 2008 at 4:04 PM PDT

By Azenith Smith

BANDON - Fresh off the heels of their wine and cheese extravaganza, Bandon by the Sea Rotary Club will now be using some of the $20,000 they raised to helping kids get on the right foot.

Since September, the Bandon Rotary Club, through the school district, has been providing brand new pairs of shoes and socks to elementary school kids in need.

Club members say they decided to do this project to keep kids safe, while also helping boost their self-esteem.

"Kids feel good about shoes," says Community Services Coordinator Penny Allen. "If they got a good pair of shoes on their feet, their feet are warm and dry. They can learn better and feel better about themselves so it just seems like a great way to help in very low key manner."

Teachers are primarily the ones who notify the school district when there's a need. Jan Doyle of Harbor Lights gave out the last pair, after she noticed one boy had shoes that were falling apart.

"I noticed this student had worn shoes and I noticed he had marker on his shoes," says Jan Doyle, Harbor Lights teacher. "When I said, why are you marking up your shoes, he said they were really his sisters shoes, but he had to to mark out the pink so nobody knows there are girls shoes. I thought we could get him a pair of new shoes."

Now, Doyle says, the boy wears his new high tops every day. This project is just one of many projects the Rotary Club does.

In addition to the shoe program, they also provide scholarships to students, give out dictionaries and provide books to the library.

If you'd like to help them in their efforts, log onto www.bandonrotary.org to learn more.

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