Dallas Police officers and volunteers working for Energy Transfer and Sunoco are fitting kids with free shoes as they get ready to head back to school. Students' first day of the new school year in Dallas ISD is Monday, August 14.
Police and volunteers have been handing out shoes at rec centers and apartment complexes. This is the seventh year for their "Share the Shoes" initiative.
"It's great. We don't really see this in our line of work," says Senior Corporal Jose Gamez. "We're always seeing the bad things in life, but seeing this is a positive thing for us."
"It's fun to see their smiles and have them react to the new shoes," says Energy Transfer's Lisa Coleman.
Coleman says a lot of people who volunteer once wind up returning every year because they enjoy that reaction from the kids.
"It's meaningful for us, too, to support the Dallas Police Department," she says. "The work they do in our community is invaluable. It's important kids know our cops are here to help us. They're our friends and looking out for our community."
Dallas Police and Energy Transfer say they will give away more than 500 pairs of shoes.
"We're so glad to help coordinate this program and be a part of it every summer," Coleman says. "Just being a good neighbor in the community means the world to us."
Parents say the event also lets their kids see police in a positive role outside of a crisis.
"I understand community policing is the best form of introducing a police department to a neighborhood," one dad said at a rec center Thursday. "The children know them by name, and they know the children by name. They support the school."
He says that can help kids feel comfortable going to police when they have a problem.
"I think it's nice. Cool," one boy said as he was fitted with new shoes.
"They feel pretty good," another said. "Better than when you have to pay a whole bunch of money to get some more shoes."
Gamez, the police senior corporal, says different precincts work together to identify areas with the greatest need to help kids succeed long-term.
"I grew up going to Dallas Police programs; I was in their baseball league as a kid," he says. "I grew up in a rough neighborhood, too, but instead of being out in that element when school was out and constantly being pressured to join a gang or do something illegal, the police department helped me get where I'm at now."
A dad says something as simple as a pair of shoes can help kids focus on school work instead of worrying they might be made fun of for not having the latest style. He says the Mayor's Back to School Fair Friday is another example of a chance for kids to get supplies they will need ahead of time.
"The less children have to worry about and just be children, the better off we are as adults," he says.
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