It’s the time of year when the air gets colder and snow’s around the corner but plenty of kids in the area don’t have suitable footwear.The generosity and resilience of a man who spent over six decades on local radio airways was helping give Galesburg children socks and shoes today, even six years after his passing.
The Jack E. Larson Endowment Fund was founded by it’s namesake before his passing to ensure that work he quietly did on his own for years would continue.
For Jack Larson Shoe Day, District 205 first identified 350 kids who are in need of shoes.
The students were then bused to the Galesburg Wal-Mart where through the course of the morning they all received two pairs of socks and a pair of new shoes.
Don LeFebvre, one of Shoe Day’s organizers called Larson an “amazing guy.”
He tells WGIL Larson started with the shoe project as a way to get past heartache.
“He lost his wife to cancer, just struggled with life and found that he kind of needed to readjust his life a little bit by finding something he could get his hands around,” LeFebvre says. “That became his way of getting over the death of his wife as much as he could.”
Six years of tweaking Shoe Day and around 50 volunteers help to run things smoothly.
The schools arrive in staggered times and volunteers help the kids find a pair of shoes that they both like and fit them.
