35 Children. 35 Pairs of New Shoes. One Incredible Community.

There is just something about starting a new school year with a brand-new pair of shoes.

For kids, new shoes are about more than having something new to wear. They can mean walking into school feeling confident, fitting in with their friends, and getting to pick out something that feels like them. And yes—sometimes it is simply about having a really cool pair of shoes that you cannot wait to wear on the first day of school!

This year, 35 children served by CASA of Jefferson County received new shoes thanks to Shoe Sensation and the generosity of our community.

And let us tell you—the kids were EXCITED! They picked out shoes they loved, showed them off, and left smiling from ear to ear.

We wish we could share photos of that joy with all of you. Because of the work we do and our responsibility to protect the privacy of the children we serve, we simply can't. But we want you to know that we got to see it. We got to see the smiles. We got to hear the excitement. We got to watch kids light up over their new shoes. And we wish every single person who helped make this possible could have been standing there with us.

A very special thank you to Michelle Moore, Store Manager at Shoe Sensation, for helping us take care of our kids and making this such a great experience for them. Thank you to Shoe Sensation, our community donors, and every CASA supporter who helped make sure these children could start school with shoes they were proud to wear.

You may not get to see their smiles, but please know they were there—and they were BIG.