SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Police Department and Zapatos Inc. make a great pair.
In 2022, the annual Share the Shoes campaign collected 1,855 pairs of shoes and more than 5,700 pairs of socks. Combined with the donations that continued to pour in after the cutoff date, the contributions collected, according to Zapatos, topped off at 2,000 pairs of shoes and 6,000 pairs of socks.
Last year’s contribution from Share the Shoes significantly boosted the supply but the need is always there. Zapatos volunteer, Margie Delatorre, said this year, they are distributing 183 pairs of shoes on average, multiple times a week to schools all across Bexar County.
Toward the end of the year, their shoe supply begins to dwindle, and each year can bring a different hurdle. When a shoe distribution takes place, Zapatos volunteers and officers from the police department will visit a school and be paired up with a child in need of new shoes. When removing the old shoe to fit a child with the new one, volunteers noticed the holes in some of the kids’ socks. That’s why they’re also collecting socks.
“This year we seem to be distributing more shoes from size 9-toddler to 5-adult,” Delatorre said. “We have been running low in those sizes, when in past years it was the bigger sizes that we were in most need of.”
Another requested item is shoes for students with braces or who have wider feet. These types of shoes are a little harder to come by, can be more expensive and usually have to be specially ordered.
The San Antonio Police Department is hopeful this year’s Share the Shoes donation drive will help to address these barriers. Beginning November 1 through December 12, anyone can deliver a pair of new shoes to any of the seven SAPD substations. Every donation will be given to young recipients in need of new shoes through Zapatos shoe distribution.
KSAT Community Phone Bank
SAPD makes the shoe drive a friendly competition between substations. This year, the bragging rights could be even bigger with the addition of monetary donations during a KSAT Community phone bank on Thursday, November 16. (Find your nearest substation)
Donors can call the phone bank from noon to 7 p.m. and make a monetary contribution in honor of their favorite substation.
The funds collected during the phone bank will go directly to the Share the Shoes collection drive, benefiting Zapatos and allowing the nonprofit to purchase some of the special sizes and shoes that they don’t often get in the shoe drive.
Where to bring your shoe donations
Zapatos Inc. and the San Antonio Police Department are in need of new shoes and socks for school-age kids in Pre-K to 12th grade. Tennis shoes are the most requested items, but any new pair of shoes is appreciated. Donors who wish to give socks are welcome to bring in over-the-calf, ankle, no-show, dinosaur socks, fancy socks, or athletic socks - the choice is yours, but they must be new.
Donations will be accepted from November 1 through December 12 at any of these locations or make a financial contribution through the Zapatos Inc. donation page; Zelle App: zapatos.inc16@yahoo.com; Cash App: $ZapatosInc16
- 3635 East Houston Street
- 5020 Prue Road
- 711 W. Mayfield Road
- 7000 Culebra Road
- 515 South Frio Street
- 13030 Jones Maltsberger Road
- 315 S Santa Rosa Ave
Zapatos Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2015 by Maria Gloria Martinez. Over 300 students were served in 2016 and 703 in 2017. Zapatos Inc. strives to help society’s less fortunate families by providing new shoes. ‘Shoes are foundational; Shoes are Fundamental’.
KSAT Community operates in partnership with University Health, Energy Transfer and Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union. Click here to read about other KSAT Community efforts.