MUKILTEO — The way Demetria Lund figured it, God might be expecting something out of her after He gave her a second chance at life.
So two years ago, Lund founded Beautiful Soles, a grassroots group providing new shoes and socks to low-income and homeless kids in Snohomish County. Since then the group has gained nonprofit status, and Lund and her band of volunteers, mostly moms she’s met through Facebook, have handed out shoes to 2,400 children and teens.
“The kids just light up,” Lund said. “These kids are so happy with a pair of shoes. Can you imagine? A pair of shoes.”
Lund said the journey started on Dec. 30, 2014. She was scheduled to give birth to her youngest son. Lund went into cardiac arrest during the delivery. She was revived on the operating table. Her son spent his first days at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Both mom and baby recovered.
“I knew I needed to do something,” Lund said. “If you die and come back, there’s a reason.”
Lund’s inspiration came from her then 6-year-old son. The family had moved into a Mukilteo apartment building and many of the tenants were receiving federal rental assistance.
Her son befriended a boy whose shoes were so worn out his toes were poking through. Her son asked if he could give the neighbor boy a pair of his shoes so they could play basketball. Lund later learned that the boy had five other siblings and there wasn’t enough money at home for new shoes.
“It was a like a light bulb went off,” Lund said.
She started paying attention to children’s feet. There were plenty of kids who needed new shoes. Lund couldn’t find an agency in Snohomish County that exclusively provided shoes to low-income children and teens.
Lund, who has four children, knows how pricey it can be to keep growing kids in shoes. She’s turned to thrift stores and nonprofits to keep her three active boys in shoes and clothes. A new pair of shoes can be a luxury for children whose parents don’t have much disposable income and are worrying about keeping the lights on and food on the table.
Lund, 38, used Facebook to network with different mom groups. She had her first shoe drive. She worked out of her garage. She spent hours cleaning up the used shoes donated to group. Word got around and the requests started pouring in.
“I get kids who have never worn a pair of brand new shoes,” Lund said.
She receives up to 40 requests a week. That’s plenty of extra work for someone who is employed full time with the Muscular Dystrophy Association and attends Edmonds Community College. She is studying child psychology. Lund relies on volunteers to help her keep Beautiful Soles running.
Her next goal is to create shoe closets in schools in low income neighborhoods, primarily in south Snohomish County.
Many of her requests come from teachers whose students come to school in shoes held together by duct tape or teens who don’t have tennis shoes to participate in P.E. classes. Sometimes high school counselors will contact Lund about students being teased about their shoes. Lund also has taken donations to shelters and handed out shoes to children who are living with their families in cars and tents.
Sometimes the sadness is a bit overwhelming, she said. Lund focuses on what she can do to provide comfort in some rough situations.
“At least their little feet will be warm and comfortable,” she said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
Beautiful Soles
For more information about Beautiful Soles, go to www.beautifulsoles.org. Donations of new or like-new tennis shoes can be donated at the following locations: Teri’s Toybox, 420 Main St., Edmonds, and Harbour Pointe Orthodontics, 7928 Mukilteo Speedway, Suite 203, Mukilteo.
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