JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Santa makes an early stop for 400 children in foster care. Monday night, each child was given a brand-new pair of shoes just in time for the Christmas holiday. Kicks for Kids is a partnership between a Fondren business, a church and the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services.
From the smallest feet to teenagers, children in foster care from six counties are getting a special holiday treat this season. Fondren Church sponsored Kicks for Kids, providing a night of joy for children from Hinds, Rankin, Madison, Holmes, Warren and Yazoo counties.
Moriah Carver, events director for Fondren Church, said, “and they’re brand new. They get to shop, there’s a whole bunch of options in every size so that the kid gets to experience shopping for a new pair of shoes and that’s because of a partnership with a local business Swell-O-Phonic that said yeah let’s figure this out. So we do a crazy order of a huge size run and we get it all set up and try to make it as much like, they get to experience a shoe shop and the honor of picking out their own pair of shoes.”
The children and their foster families were treated to an evening at the Mississippi Children’s Museum, with some of them writing letters to Santa with their Christmas wish lists. Hours of planning went into ensuring every child left with a smile and their own shopping bag…