Your Support Is Key To Our Success

I was diagnosed with leukemia in 2015. I started undergoing chemotherapy shortly thereafter. One day while sitting in my chair getting treatment, I took a picture of the shoes I was wearing and posted them on Facebook with an inspirational message. At every chemo session thereafter, I posted a different pair of shoes with a different message. I did not want this cancer to define me, I wanted everyone to know that I was doing well and in good spirits, so I continued to post a different pair of shoes at each session. Suddenly, I started receiving shoes from friends and strangers to wear at my chemo sessions. It was during one of my sessions that I was inspired to start Zapatos. Call it divine intervention, or my experiencing an epiphany, but something told me, “Stop posting your shoes and start putting shoes on kids!” And, that is exactly whit I did.

Bexar County has one of the highest percentages of children living in poverty in the country. In many Bexar County school districts, as many as up to 92% of the children qualify for free or reduced lunch. This is an indication of the level of poverty in our county’s schools. These kids need shoes in order to participate in sports, ROTC, after school/work programs, high school graduation ceremonies and especially daily use. Not having a proper pair of shoes limits their participation in opportunities offered to children by the school system and society.

Zapatos was founded in 2015 and started providing shoes in 2016 when we received our 501(c)(3). Over 300 students were served the first year, over 700 the second year and over 2000 the third year. COVID slowed us down a bit but we got back on track for the 2022-23 school year – we distributed 5200 pairs of shoes.