Some need toys, others need food, and still others need slippers, the basic of footwear to children in Hawai‘i. Three years ago, Lynn Vasquez and Blaine Fergerstrom of O‘ahu saw little children barefoot and were inspired to start a project
Some need toys, others need food, and still others need slippers, the basic of footwear to children in Hawai‘i.
Three years ago, Lynn Vasquez and Blaine Fergerstrom of O‘ahu saw little children barefoot and were inspired to start a project to shod these young feet.
Now in its fifth year, the Boys & Girls Club, Lihu‘e Outreach, decided to pick up the project started by Vasquez, and on Friday, more than a hundred pairs of slippers were distributed to young people.
“All of the slippers were donated by the Royal Hawaiian Movers and O‘ahu Express,” said Mike Miranda, the program director for the Lihu‘e Outreach. “Today, we have one box and some assorted pairs, but next week, more than a thousand pairs will be distributed to people in Koloa, Waimea and Kapa‘a.”
Beyond shodding needy feet with footwear, the Slippah Project also touched the heart of Stacie Serquina, a Boys & Girls Club Leaders in Training candidate, who will be heading to O‘ahu for the state finals on Jan. 3, armed with her experience in getting slippers out to people in need. She will be joined by a finalist from the Boys & Girls Club Kapa‘a Clubhouse and the Boys & Girls Club Waimea Clubhouse.
Miranda said in addition to the slippers, Serquina, Kuliana Keaulana and two students from the Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School also distributed toys and books to all the youth living at the Lihu‘e Court Townhouse project.
“The Leaders in Training of the Boys & Girls Club, Lihu‘e Outreach, chose to participate in The Slippah Project to show that holiday joy can be measured in feet,” Miranda said.
Miranda said this is the first year the project which started at the Mayor Wright Homes on O‘ahu has branched out to the Neighbor Islands and the sponsors of the slippers paid for the shipping to get the footwear over here.
“When the Slippah Project started, Lynn thought it was going to be small,” Miranda said. “She started out with a distribution of 500 pairs, but that has blossomed to where she is distributing 5,000 pairs this year.”
According to a Web site on the Slippah Project, Vasquez said on Dec. 7 that more than 100 pairs of slippers were donated by a third grade class who bought and collected for the project after watching a play of two children and a pair of slippers being shared in Afghanistan.
Their teacher said the students became excited when they learned about the Slippah Project and wanted to help the children here in their own ‘aina.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or via e-mail at dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
