It is my pleasure today to offer an update on a program mentioned here a few weeks ago. We joined the Shoes for Haiti project soon after the devastating earthquake with a small collection box here at the Mail Service Center. It was the idea of our Administrative Manager, Barbara Coram, who thought it might be something our folks would like to participate in.
Did they ever. Their enthusiasm led the Department of Administration to embrace this as an agency-wide project. Large drop-off boxes were placed at the front and back entrances of the Administration Building. Our employees, along with those from other agencies – as well as their friends and neighbors – contributed so many shoes that the boxes had to be emptied several times.
All told, more than 370 pairs of new and gently-worn shoes of all sizes and styles were collected. Barbara completely filled a van twice to deliver the donations to Fleet Feet shoe store, which is handling the transfer to survivors of the Haiti earthquake.
And now, it looks like she’ll make yet another trip, as several late donations have arrived and she is honoring her pledge to get them to the store.
While we here at the Mail Service Center have long known that Barbara is an extraordinary colleague, I think this effort speaks volumes about the caring nature of state employees, who routinely go above and beyond not only to help our citizens, but also those in need far beyond our borders.