Saratoga News Photograph courtesy of Kristin Bowman Helen Kane (left) and Kristin Bowman learned that in Saratoga, the best way to fill a large order for a good cause is simply to let neighbors know of the need. Grassroots shoe drive is stomping success Neighbors respond to plea for help in a big way By Sarah Lombardo When Saratogans Helen Kane and Kristin Bowman set out to gather shoes to donate to the victims of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, they hoped for a good response from neighbors. What they got was more than 1,100 pairs of shoes in less than four days. And by the time the two women prepared to deliver the shoes to Cityteam Ministries in San Jose for shipment to Honduras a few days later, they had received more than 1,400 pairs of shoes. "It was so exciting," Bowman said. "We are just so grateful to everyone who donated. They opened their hearts and their closets. All ages just got behind us." The idea began with a simple expression of concern in church a few Sundays ago for residents of the country hardest hit by Hurricane Mitch last month. "Helen was sitting in front of me and I leaned forward and said, 'Helen, what are we going to do for those people in Honduras?'" Bowman said. Bowman said that the following morning, Kane told of a radio advertisement she had heard in which Cityteam Ministries was seeking donations of clothing, especially shoes, to send to Honduras. Kane proposed collecting 1,000 pairs of shoes. When she heard the goal, "I gulped," Bowman said, "I said, 'When do they need them?'" They needed them in a week, Kane responded. That was on a Monday. On Tuesday, the pair went to work calling friends and neighbors, asking for shoes. On Wednesday, Bowman set out boxes at Argonaut Shopping Center, Alain Pinel Realtors and the Saratoga Federated Church. "The shoes just started pouring in," Bowman said. By Saturday, the two members of the congregation Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had collected 1,170 pairs of shoes. Bowman said people stopped her while she was setting up boxes to ask about the project; some, she said, even went out to stores that very day, returning with brand-new children's shoes to place in the donation box. "We spent five hours with friends who helped us tie shoes together and rubberband ones that didn't have laces," Bowman said. But it didn't end there. "After Saturday, shoes kept showing up in my doorway," Bowman said. The shoe total ran up to 1,450 pairs. "The people of Saratoga are just so remarkable," she said. Not a bad haul for what Bowman called a "spur-of-the-moment kind of thing." "I didn't think we could possibly make 1,000," Bowman said. "I just somehow thought we'd come through." "They probably didn't expect they'd be opening a shoe store," Gail West, a representative from Cityteam's family outreach program, said. But far from overwhelming Bowman and Kane, the success of the shoe drive has encouraged them to have another drive--this time for baby supplies for families in Honduras with little ones. Beginning in December, Bowman said she and Kane and other members of her church will be placing boxes around town for newborn-size clothes, blankets and diapers--preferably cloth ones. Although the organization is currently only able to ship medical supplies and food to Honduras, West said Cityteam is accepting any and all donations for Hurricane Mitch victims, and the donations will be distributed as quickly as possible. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, December 2, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.