Applications for United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN)’s Step Into School program are due July 24th.
The back-to-school celebration takes qualified students shopping for new properly fit athletic shoes for the coming school year.
“You’d be amazed at what a difference a new pair of shoes makes for children,” said Youth Opportunity Coordinator Sarah Fetzik. “There’s a noticeable difference in Step Into School students from the beginning of the evening to the end; they genuinely walk out of the store with their heads held a little higher.”
Step Into School will this year take place August 12th and will begin with dinner and games at Backus Community Center. Local emergency and law enforcement personnel will provide children with rides to Ronnings for shoe shopping.
To qualify, students must be enrolled to attend school in Koochiching County (K-12) and must live in households under the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) guidelines. The guidelines were set using the latest United for ALICE in Minnesota report that UWNEMN which provides insight into Minnesota families and individuals earning above the federal poverty guidelines but still struggling to afford basics.
According to the report, 11% of Koochiching County residents live in poverty; another 22% are ALICE.
“As costs continue to rise and supports grow stretched thin, we are doing everything we can to stabilize local households to avoid either of those percentages from growing,” said UWNEMN Executive Director Erin Shay. “Step Into School doesn’t just provide shoes; it also provides community support in a way that builds pride and resilience”
This is the fourth year UWNEMN has partnered with Backus, Ronnings, and local emergency responders and law enforcement on a back-to-school shoe event.
Step Into School is offered free in Koochiching County with support from Old National Bank Foundation, Essentia Health, MIDCO Foundation, Packaging Corporation of America (PCA), Rotary Club of International Falls, TruStar Federal Credit Union, Border Bank, Rainy Lake Gazette, and Sanford Health, as well as funding from the Power of the Purse event.