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U-46 students in need get new shoes for holidays

Roughly 400 students in need from seven Elgin Area School District U-46 schools received new shoes Thursday as part of AT&T's "All Children Shall Have Shoes" project.

Students visited Shoe Carnival in South Elgin, where AT&T employees and retirees and the Elgin Police Department's ROPE (Resident Officer Program of Elgin) officers helped each pick out a new pair of shoes and socks.

Participating schools were Ronald D. O'Neal, Washington, Harriet Gifford, Hillcrest and Garfield elementary schools, all in Elgin, Willard Elementary in South Elgin, and Parkwood Elementary in Hanover Park.

"It's a delightful process to see how AT&T merges with the Elgin Police Department to send more than 60 volunteers to shop with students," said Kyle Bunker, principal at Garfield Elementary School. "To see the smiles on the faces of the volunteers transfer to the smile on the faces of the students as they put on their new shoes is what the holiday season is about. As a principal who gets to be a part of this project, I'm thankful that there are those who see the community need and fill it."

The "All Children Shall Have Shoes" Project was started in the early 1960s after a former Illinois Bell plant technician and his co-workers started providing children from families in need with new shoes. It is funded yearly through donations from AT&T employees.

  Elgin Police Officer Hector Gutierrez talks with Aaliyah Lewis, 8, from Washington Elementary School on her way out of the Shoe Carnival store in South Elgin. Roughly 400 children in need from Elgin Area School District U-46 schools within Elgin, South Elgin and Hanover Park received new shoes Thursday as part of AT&T's "All Children Shall Have Shoes" Project. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Jo Maniscalco of AT&T helps 11-year-old Darien Walls with a new pair of shoes Thursday at the Shoe Carnival in South Elgin. AT&T provided pairs of shoes to roughly 400 children in need from Elgin Area School District U-46 schools. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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