Peninsula teens to lead march for homelessness awareness this Sunday in Burlingame (by Jessica Bernstein-Wax, Daily News Staff Writer)
About 500 people are expected to march through the streets of downtown Burlingame on Sunday wearing red shoe coverings to highlight the plight of Bay Area homeless children and their families.
A group of 21 Peninsula teenagers working with the nonprofit My New Red Shoes has spent months organizing the event, which begins at 1 p.m. in Washington Park and will feature carnival games aimed at educating participants about homelessness, live music and face painting, said Becca Moos, who runs the organization's teen advocacy council and other youth programs.
The mile-long march, scheduled to leave the park at 2 p.m., will include a stop at the First Step for Families shelter in San Mateo, where participants will have the opportunity to tour the facility.
"We really want to spread awareness about what homelessness is because a lot of people don't really understand that it's family and kids too instead of just the people you see on the street when you're walking there," said Alee Cho, a 16-year-old junior at Gunn High School in Palo Alto. "It is a really big eye-opening experience."
Admission to the event is $20 for adults, $10 for students and free for children under age 5. Group discounts are also available.
The students will use that money and other cash they raised through fund raising to clothe homeless children for the 2009-2010 school year, Moos said. They are aiming to raise about $10,000 to buy outfits for 200 children.
The group already has more than $3,000 in hand but fund raising in the current down economy has proven challenging, Moos said. Last year's event generated about $13,000 in funds for the program.
"Fund raising is a lot more difficult than I thought," said Summer Senna, 15, a sophomore at Notre Dame High School in Belmont. "Because of the (economic) climate that we have right now, it's a little bit more difficult. I know last year they raised a lot of money."
The students, who attend nine different schools from Burlingame to Palo Alto, have been meeting each Tuesday afternoon in Menlo Park since late January to work on issues related to homelessness and have also toured shelters. At a meeting earlier this week, they worked on speeches for the march, laminated photographs of homeless children and discussed what kind of speakers the bands should use.
Launched in 2006, My New Red Shoes gives underprivileged children throughout the Bay Area brand-name clothing for the first day of school. The outfits increase school attendance among homeless and low-income students, and boosts their confidence, according to the organization.
"I've just really enjoyed seeing the payoff, being able to work all year and at the end of the summer being able to deliver the clothes to the children and see the look on their faces," said Alexander Most, a junior at Menlo-Atherton High School, of his three years working with the organization.
For more information on the march, or to register online, go to http://www.mynewredshoes.org.
– Written by Fiona