Spreading Smiles: Our Journey to Support Students with Shoes

This October, we decided to spend some time on a good deed. We had been wanting to make a donation for a while but hadn't found the right moment.

One day, I asked my dear friend Roshani if there was any way we could help the students at her school. She was excited and told me that although the students had recently received stationery, some of them still needed shoes.

After discussing with Harith, we thought it would be a great idea to gift shoes to students with damaged footwear or those without any shoes.

We had to select 15 students, three from each class. Roshani and the teachers worked on choosing the students who needed shoes the most. For the rest of the students, we arranged a small gift. There were about 135 students in the school, from grades 1 to 5.

Our next challenge was determining the shoe sizes. Roshani and the teachers did a great job by tracing the students' feet and measuring the sizes. We received the measurements via WhatsApp, and Harith and I compiled the data in an Excel sheet.

We checked the DSI size chart to find the closest sizes. To purchase the shoes, we chose the DSI Ambalangoda outlet.

We went there with our Excel sheet, and the staff helped us pick the closest shoe sizes based on our measurements. We also decided to go one size larger, considering the students are growing quickly.

I must commend the DSI staff, as they packed each pair of shoes with socks and labeled them with the size and the student’s name, making our task much easier.

Next, we went to Rangana Stationery Shop and bought supplies for all the students. The lady at the shop was very helpful, allowing us to purchase everything without any hassle.

Once all the items were purchased, we informed the school of the date we would arrive. Stay tuned for part two to see how the event went!