Document text
Light One Candle Boys need a new pair of shoes EDITOR'S NOTE : "Light One Candle" is an annual Mail Tribune feature that focuses on a single need of a person, family or agency during the holiday season. For information, call 776-4465 or e-mail [email protected] For three fatherless boys in West Medford, a pair of athletic shoes apiece could mean the difference between fitting in and fading away. The boys, ages 6, 9 and 10, attend the afterschool homework and activity program run by Kids Unlimited, a local nonprofit agency. The boys were struggling earlier this year as they grappled with sad changes in their lives, says program director Tom Cole. Their dad is long gone; their mom was recently remanded into a treatment program for drug addiction. The boys are living with a relative now, waiting for their mother to recover. In the meantime, they've found structure and encouragement in the program, which serves some 150 students at Washington and Oak Grove elementary schools. They're good students who do their homework with the help of trained aides. Recently, they've begun participating in some of the extra-curricular sports the free program offers. "They enjoy the sports," Cole says. "But the trouble is, they don't have shoes." It's tough to play basketball in a pair of tattered street shoes, he says. If these boys had a Christmas wish, it would be for shoes that could help them not only run faster and jump higher, but also see farther to a new vision of what their lives could be. "It would show these kids that somebody cares," Cole says. Donations of athletic shoes in boys' size 3 for the 6-year-old and boys' size 5 for the other two would be a small way to make a big difference in the children's lives. For information about donating the shoes, call Kids Unlimited at 774-3900. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA