NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Abby Mendelsohn has shoes “for every occasion." She enjoys sneakers and even trying on her sister’s high heels.
But, the 8-year-old’s favorite pairs are the ones she recently bought for others.
“It makes me feel like I’m magical because I’m helping someone else,” she said.
The child heard about the need for quality shoes in Pasco County and got connected with this year’s shoe drive, Two Good Soles.
The outreach has been making a big impact in the Pasco community for six years. Two Good Soles has been gathering footwear through a friendly contest between the Pasco government and constitutional offices.
“[Abby] tells me it makes her feel so good to be able to give back and she says my heart just blossoms so it’s a really good thing,” Assistant County Administrator for Public Services for Pasco County Board of Commissioners Cathy Pearson said.
This year, they got a boost from Mendelsohn.
“[I bought] over 300 pairs of shoes and over 700 pairs of socks,” she said, her grin showing off her missing two front teeth.
In 2021, Pasco’s Two Good Soles drive netted over 3,000 pairs of shoes and 3,947 pairs of socks. Those figures stack up well against last year’s drive results, in which 1,746 pairs of shoes and 5,773 pairs of socks were donated.
Since 2016, the Two Good Soles Drive has collected 9,314 pairs of shoes and 30,510 pairs of socks. Child services and school workers distribute the items to Pasco students.
Pearson has overseen the outreach since coming to the county in 2014.
Mendelsohn was inspired to do a community project after her older sister donated over 70 backpacks filled with care items to homeless children in New Port Richey.
“I was asking my dad can we get matching clothes to match their shoes,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t want to do it because I wanted to be a pop star. I just wanted to do it cool because I know people don’t have that which I have.”
The shoes and socks will be given to kids in need before Christmas.