SHOES THAT FIT

For over thirty years, Shoes That Fit has worked aggressively to reduce one of the most visible stigmas associated with poverty.

A new pair of shoes can be a life-changing event for a child. School attendance, self-esteem and behavior improve. Physical activity increases. Smiles return. All from an often overlooked item—a good pair of shoes.

Our vision is that, one day, every child in America who needs new shoes gets new shoes, allowing all children the opportunity to reach their highest potential.

Our original program model matches volunteer groups—religious, service organizations, businesses and corporations—with schools in their local communities that have high percentages of students on the free or reduced-cost meal program. Volunteers are provided with training and program materials, while teachers and school liaisons at each school identify the children who are most in need of new shoes; each student is then measured with the tools we provide to guarantee a proper fit.

We also operate an emergency warehouse situated at our headquarters in Claremont. Our central location, on the border of Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, and the Inland Empire, enables Shoes That Fit to provide shoes on a year-round basis to the schools we serve in the local region. Schools we work with are able to access our warehouse during the year, providing shoes for children who are in desperate need.

Shoes That Fit partners with generous donors, businesses, private foundations, and community partners to provide shoes for children in need across the country. Some of our partners include Nordstrom, Inc., Rack Room Shoes, Geico, Amazon, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, Kershaw’s Challenge, and Newport Group. In addition, our vast nationwide network of over 400 sponsor groups continues to raise and distribute shoes to children in their own backyards.

Shoes That Fit started 30 years ago as an effort to help one boy whose toes had been turned under to make his feet fit into his shoes. Elodie McGuirk, the future founder of Shoes That Fit, was moved to action by his story. She learned that many children were in similar situations: missing school because they were wearing shoes that were falling apart or being teased for shoes that didn’t fit. Elodie recruited her colleagues at Harvey Mudd College, where she worked, by posting notecards with the needed shoe sizes in the college breakroom. By the end of the day, all of the notecards had been taken by Elodie’s colleagues to shop for shoes for the students.

From these humble beginnings in a college break room in Claremont, CA, Shoes That Fit has expanded to serve children across the United States. Attention was called to the mission in 2003 when Family Circle featured the organization in its first national media story. Children served jumped again in 2007 and 2010 when Rack Room Shoes and Nordstrom, respectively, committed significant corporate support. As these partnerships deepened and support from private individuals has continued to grow children served annually crossed the 100,000 mark in the 2016-2017 school year. Another milestone was reached in the 2019-2020 school year when kids in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. were reached for the first time.

In the most recent school year, children served annually has grown to more than 150,000 in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. In September of 2022, the organization celebrated its 30th anniversary.