Newswise — Trees shed their leaves as autumn is here. Soon snowflakes will cover the golden carpet. Children full of mischief and wonder jump up and down as they welcome the spirit of the season.
At Sandia National Laboratories autumn triggers Sandia's Christmas story — the Shoes for Kids Program. What began as a holiday gift exchange between two scientists 51 years ago has become a tradition. Instead of giving gifts or cards to each other, they spent the money to benefit little children who needed shoes.
Word spread and the Christmas program escalated to the department level (about 25), then the center level (about 150) and by 1995 a division of 800 employees donated nearly $5,000 for new shoes. That same year Lockheed Martin and Sandia National Laboratories adopted the Shoes for Kids Program as a corporate sponsored project. Last year employees and retirees donated more than $17,308.
This year, fittings begin in November. When it is all over, more than 500 children will be fitted with new shoes.
Twenty-five students from each of about 22 schools are selected to receive a new pair of shoes by their principal, counselor, or teacher. To date more than 11,000 pair of shoes have been donated.
Children arrive at a local Mervyns Department Store aboard buses sponsored by local companies. Mervyns provides shoes at a discounted price. Sandia volunteers help fit each child. Last year six"year old Alondra said she was the only one in her class who got chosen to get new shoes. "I wish they could come with me and get new shoes too," she says. One by one each child gets a new pair of shoes. The little boy wearing what looked like pieces of leather with his feet totally exposed was happy with his new sneakers. "I think these look cool, he says. "I can't even feel them on."
When a little girl with long red braids, her face peppered with freckles, pointed to an shoe resembling a Cinderella slipper said, "I want a pair of those." It took some convincing to fit her with a pair of boots.
"It is heart warming to see that these children do not realize they are poor," says a volunteer. "They just know they are getting new shoes."
Each child carries the pair of selected shoes and boards the bus back to school. Volunteers are left with big smiles and lots of memorable stories. It is definitely the magical season at Sandia National Laboratories.
Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.
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