Giving the ‘Good’ some gear

SPIRIT LAKE — Sometimes, you need a hand up instead of a hand down.

For the organizers of the Running Shoes 4kiDs’ Run to Summer, it’s about a lot more than just teaching life lessons.

“Our goal is to empower kids to do hard things,” event organizer Colene Hotmer said. “When we started the program eight years ago, we were trying to find kids that needed shoes. The kids we found were either embarrassed because they were poor, or they felt entitled, and I didn’t think those were good factors for kids. Our goal was to start empowering kids and the mission was to ‘Go Good’. When they’re in doubt, and about to make a hard decision, just ‘Go Good.’ We’re hoping they’re going to remember that as they grow up and we’ll all rise up together.”

Running Shoes 4kiDs partners with Lakeland district schools to encourage kids to be good citizens. They’re awarded opportunities to win new shoes for exhibiting kindness, accountability and other positive traits. Teachers and counselors keep track of these good kids while considering who would benefit most from the program.

“Our goal is to reach out to these schools and have enough funding where we can help these kids for when they ‘Go Good,’” Hotmer said. “We award the kids each quarter during assemblies. Kids are acknowledged by their school and teacher. Typically, we’d be giving them a free ticket for the race, and a drawing ticket for shoes. They also get entered — per quarter — per grade from Kindergarten to high school, and we’ll do different things for them.”

Kids can also receive extra tickets for being a model student in the classroom.

“We’ve done programs for no missing assignments, standing up to bullies and being kind,” Hotmer said. “And going good encompasses that a lot.”

Coeur d’Alene’s Lance Gilmor — who arrived dressed as Santa Claus for team “Christmas in July” — said it was also a chance to get into the holiday spirit, even though it’s five months away.

“The team gave it to me this morning, so I told them ‘it’s for the kids,’ so I decided to wear it,” Gilmor said. “I found out a few hours ago, so I decided to wear it.”

For students like Miranda Hoover, it’s also a chance to get out and be active.

“I just enjoy the running and all of the food things in the park,” Hoover said. “I’m just looking forward to having some fun.”

And Hoover was also looking forward to the possibility of getting some new shoes to run in.

“It makes me feel excited that I won something,” Hoover said. “It’s nice to get something out of this all.”

And while competing in the quarter-mile race might have took a toll on him, the same goes for Spirit Lake Elementary School student Preston Dow.

“It’s a lot of work on my legs,” Dow said. “They start to hurt when I go too far. But it’s nice if I end up winning some shoes after it’s over.”

The event, in its eighth year, was another chance to spread good cheer through the community as well.

“Life is hard,” Hotmer said. “It’s hard for kids, and it’s hard for grownups. We just need to remember to be kind, even when it’s hard. And we’re hoping to get that instilled in the kids mind that when they’re faced with a hard challenge, they’re going to ‘Go Good.’ And then they put on a new pair of shoes, they’re going to feel empowered and feel good when they’ve got a brand new pair of shoes on.”

Hotmer works with area shoe companies to get the donations throughout the year.

“A lot of the shoes come from Fleet Feet,” Hotmer said. “They donate a lot of the shoes that are returns, so they’re brand new. We also get a lot of our sponsors that go out and buy shoes from different companies in the area.”

Close to 150 total competitors ran a quarter mile, half mile, mile or 5K, with food vendors scattered throughout Volunteer Park.

“The turnout was amazing,” Hotmer said. “I’m so happy with the numbers we’ve got now. With all this COVID craziness, some people are fearful and some are not. I’m praying and hoping that this is going to bring everyone together. These food and other vendors are going to get recognized, and it’s going to increase their business. I was talking to one of them, and they were saying they’ve lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in business, so I’m hoping it’s a chance to for them to get some of that back.”