'Stuff-A-Cruiser' Event at Fleet Feet in West Hartford to Provide Boots for Homeless - We-Ha

Winter boots that will be distributed by Footwear with Care to the homeless in Hartford will be collected Saturday at Fleet Feet in West Hartford.

Submitted

Hartford Police cruisers will be at the Fleet Feet running store at 1003 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford Center Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to accept new and “like new” winter boots that will be given to homeless children and adults in Hartford by the nonprofit Footwear with Care.

The nonprofit also will be accepting tax-deductible monetary donations. A partnership of the Connecticut Podiatric Medical Association, Hartford Police, and Fleet Feet of West Hartford, Footwear with Care will give the boots to homeless individuals in Hartford at a winter boot distribution Dec. 8 in downtown Hartford and throughout the winter months.

The need for warm, weatherproof boots is intense.

“Winter arrived early,” says Abby Sullivan Moore, Footwear with Care’s founder and director. “We need the community’s support to help our homeless friends. Imagine walking nearly everywhere, with cold, wet feet. That’s what so many homeless people endure.”

At Footwear with Care’s winter boot event last year, 300 homeless people braved the season’s first snowstorm for a chance to see a foot specialist, and for new boots, socks and other support. After that event, the nonprofit continued to provide boots to homeless persons throughout the winter months.

Since 2016, the nonprofit has put more than 2,500 pairs of decent boots and shoes on the feet of our most vulnerable people and performed 425 medical foot exams. Footwear with Care was inspired by the actions of Hartford Police Off. Jimmy Barrett, who bought shoes for a homeless man. Off. Barrett is a source of support for many homeless people in Hartford and works closely with Footwear with Care.

To contribute online click here. Footwear with Care is a nonprofit program of the Connecticut Podiatric Medical Foundation. Checks can be made out to Footwear with Care, CPMA Foundation and mailed to 1350 Main St., Suite 1508, Springfield, MA 01103-1670.

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