A Port Moody insurance broker who has won acclaim for her non-profit that provides shoes to poor children in other countries now wants to make sure they can wear those shoes to school.
Kelly Strongitharm, founder of Ruben's Shoes, has spent the last two years developing a school in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic for children who have no local alternative and no money to pay for books and teachers.
"I've formed such a relationship with the kids and I really love them," she told The Tri-City News. "It's so important for me to see them educated."
It was during a visit to the Dominican Republic for the Ruben's Shoes non-profit that Strongitharm met some of the children who inspired her to start fundraising to help them stay in school.
It was a little girl named Dacheline whose aunt couldn't afford the 50 cents a day to send her to school that inspired Strongitharm to take action.
She had already built up a non-profit that provides gently used or new shoes for children and the jump to education seemed like a logical next step, the Maple Ridge resident said.
"It's education that really changes lives."
Starting with a four-room school with 24 students, Ruben's Shoes has managed to fundraise for a two-storey school with 12 classrooms and a kitchen, and find sponsors for 105 children, for a total of 161 pre-schoolers to Grade 7 students.
Sponsors pay $50 a month, in instalments or in an annual lump sum, and Strongitharm said she visits the school twice a year to check on student progress and report back to sponsors.
"It's a real relationship," she said.
Now, in addition to finding eight more sponsors, the board of directors is fundraising to buy a field next to the school so the students have somewhere to play with the goal of being accredited for Grade 8 to 10 students.
Strongitharm is hopeful the community will come through — it has this far — and Ruben's Shoes is applying for charitable status so tax receipts can be provided in future.
• For more information, visit www.rubensshoes.com.
