Throughout the school, you can find posters up on the walls and a box in the front of the school labeled Project Happy Feet, but one might wonder what it actually is. Project Happy Feet is a new, up-and-coming community organization with a goal to make sports equipment accessible to low-income areas.
Project Happy Feet was founded by Laura Jablonover, a student at Churchill. Jablonover, a student-athlete, realized that students who live in low-income areas have different opportunities than other students. In order to lower the gap between low-income and high-income, Jablonover started Project Happy Feet. “It provides equal opportunities for all student athletes by providing them with proper shoes and equipment, even if their school can’t afford it,” Jablonover said.
While the project started at Churchill, it is quickly making its way to other schools. Besides Churchill, there are donation boxes at “Wootton, and Walter Johnson (coming soon). We hope to continue to expand and maybe even reach other states,” outreach director and junior Emma Yuan said.
Throughout the year, the project has fundraisers such as bake sales and shoe donations. This summer, the project gained 73 pairs of shoes during one of their drives and hopes to gain more as the school year progresses. “The surrounding community can get more involved by attending our fundraisers, like our most recent bake sale, spreading the word, and donating,” Jablonover said.
Currently, there are boxes spread throughout Montgomery County attempting to get more donations. Project Happy Feet accepts used shoes and sports gear, trying to bridge the gap between low and high-income families, so that all students can have the same opportunities. “We currently only need donation boxes as well as posters, which are used for our “drop off sites” (located at Churchill, Wootton, WJ, Sportsplex, and [Cheer Extreme Allstars]) to provide an easier way to donate,” Jablonover said.
While the project continues to pick up the pace here, Churchill has received many donations so far, including from their sports teams. “We hope to spread the word (and have already) through social media, flyers and word of mouth. Other than that, we try our best to reach out to team captains and coaches of sports at different schools,” Jablonover said.
The community is poised to take part in an important cause, and students have already donated. “I’m so glad Wootton now has the Project Happy Feet Club; it’s such a great cause for people in need and I’m hoping it receives many donations,” sophomore Jenny Brailovsky said.
A donation box is located by the main office. For more information, you can find the project on Instagram, @project.happyfeet. While looking for donations, there are also other ways to help out. “We are always looking for ambassadors and representatives so please reach out through our Instagram or email if you are interested,” Jablonover said.
