A gift with sole. Needy local kids to get shoes from Bower Foundation

There are children in Manatee County wearing shoes that are extremely worn and dirty or no longer fit.

Some Manatee children have no shoes at all.

Vince Bower, a successful Bradenton property manager and real estate investor, grew up with a mom and dad who taught him to give back.

Six years ago, Bower found himself in a position to give back but he wasn’t sure exactly how.

“Then I heard a song on the radio about Christmas shoes,” Bower said Monday from his comfortable home located in a subdivision behind the Walmart near U.S. Highway 301 and State Road 70.

The song inspired Bower to start The Bower Family Foundation, a local non-profit specifically formed to provide needy local children with a new pair of shoes at Christmas.

The annual Christmas Shoes for Kids program has now grown from about 100 shoes given away to this year when 750 are expected to be given away, Bower said.

“For many of these kids, the shoes will be the only gift they receive this Christmas,” Bower said “The look on their faces when they get to pick out a new pair of shoes on their own makes it all worth it.”

To help identify local families with children in need, The Bower Foundation is partnering this year with Turning Points and the Tabernacle of Higher Learning Christian Center.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 16, The Bower Foundation will hand out shoe vouchers to the families of these children at the Tabernacle, 5535 33rd St. E., Bradenton, Bower said.

But if a family is in need and was not picked by the Tabernacle, Bower said he still wants to hear from them.

“They can call me at 941-720-1681,” Bower said. “We do get some calls and requests. We try to honor them all.”

All the shoes come from Walmart

After receiving their vouchers at the Tabernacle, families will then directly go to the Walmart at 2911 53rd Ave., Bradenton, where, between 5 and 8 p.m . Dec. 16, their children each get to pick out their own pair of correctly sized shoes, Bower added.

“The kids meet us back in the shoe department,” Bower said. “Little kids can sometimes get two or three pair. We have a $20 limit but we can go over if we need to. A lot of kids get socks, flip flops and shoes.”

Once the families make their selections, a volunteer escorts the family to a register, one of four that are dedicated that night by Walmart to the Shoes for Kids program, where the shoes are paid for with gift cards.

Santa Claus will make an appearance at Walmart along with a boat float from the Hernando de Soto Historical Society, deputies with Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and, this year, firefighters with Southern Manatee Fire Department will bring equipment for the children to see, Bower said.

“Every holiday season dozens of local organizations provide toys or food, but no organization helps with the basic need of a reliable pair of shoes,” said Alycia Bower, Vince Bower’s daughter and the spokeswoman for the foundation.

The Bower Foundation is currently accepting donations from the community to help provide the shoes.

Twenty dollars provides one pair of shoes for a child.

“One hundred percent of the proceeds go directly toward the shoes,” Alycia Bower said. “In the past five years, more than 2,200 children in the community have received a new pair.”

Donations can be made through GoFundMe.com/6th-annual-christmas-shoes-giveaway or by sending checks made out to the Bower Foundation at P.O. Box 20411, Bradenton, FL 34204.

The Foundation can provide information for tax deductions if needed, the Bowers said.

This story was originally published December 4, 2017 at 4:36 PM with the headline "A gift with sole. Needy local kids to get shoes from Bower Foundation."