Dec 19, 2007 7:31 pm US/Pacific
Dressing Kids for School Success
Jefferson Award Winner: Heather Hopkins
(CBS 5)
It started with a chance conversation between Heather Hopkins and her mother.
"My mom told me about how growing up, she worried about the first day of school, in particular what she was going to wear," says Heather. "And she would spend the summer worrying about it. And when she told me, she cried."
Heather's mother couldn't afford new clothes. The sting of embarrassment touched Heather's heart all these years later.
Heather says, "I just decided that I had to do something for my mom and for myself to make use of that negative thing that happened to her and kind of turn it around to something good."
That something good blossomed into "My New Red Shoes" - a non profit that provides new clothing and shoes to Bay Area kids for the first day of school. Heather recruited a board of directors and got the word out they needed donations: new shoes, of course... and money for that special outfit.
Heather and her volunteers work all year long to give kids a true back to school shopping experience in the form of gift cards, which they wrap and hand deliver before school starts.
Single mom Yesenia Aviles received three cards for her daughter and two sons.
"It was a day I dedicated as a fun day and something that they could focus on and take their time," says Yesenia. "Everybody was able to get something special."
The new clothes were good, but Yesenia says the meaning behind them was even better.
Yesenia says, "My children know how I am struggling. And they appreciate what we already have but having this offer made them realize that people do care out there."
"The way you feel about yourself on the first day of school has immense importance," Heather adds.
Since 2006, My New Red Shoes has helped almost one thousand children. Heather hopes to help hundreds more this year.
"My inspiration was really something my mom said to me which was, 'Heather, if someone had appeared on my doorstep with a brand new outfit for school, I would remember that for the rest of my life,'" she says.
So for giving kids a first day of school they'll always remember fondly, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Heather Hopkins.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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