November 25, 2019
GSF Foundation volunteers from the corporate and IT teams in Irvine measured little feet, sorted shoe boxes, tied up new laces and shared many smiles with local school children who received new shoes (and socks!) this month. Associates donated 365 pairs of shoes to young children at two schools in Southern California, adding toward GSF’s overall total of 1,217 pairs donated this year.
“Dozens of volunteers contributed to this effort over several months of planning, organizing and rolling up our sleeves to do good together,” said Irvine Foundation Chair Jason Van Dorn. “The best part of Best Foot Forward is experiencing first-hand how much that new pair of shoes means to a child in need.”
Best Foot Forward, a core Foundation program that’s active in many communities where Golden State Foods and its family of companies do business, provides new shoes that enable children to participate in their schools’ physical education programs. Having the right shoes to participate in school fitness activities helps combat rapidly increasing obesity rates in at-risk children, which also leads to improved attitudes and greater self-esteem.