With the cold weather already upon us, the timing of a recent partnership with Project Northwest Indiana and Chicago based New Balance couldn’t have been planned better for members of the Portage Boys & Girls Clubs, as members received a new pair of shoes just in time for the cold weather. 
After brainstorming ways to help the children in our community, Project Northwest Indiana didn’t take long to identify the Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County as the perfect recipient. After identifying that many kids come to the club with inadequate shoes that are either too big, too small or too warn, the Soles Bless Souls program began to take shape.
Cliff Morgan of Chesterton’s Wachs Financial firm had previously worked for New Balance while a college student in Chicago and offered to see if New Balance would drastically cut the price of shoes for the project. New Balance agreed to provide shoes at little over cost, which allowed the Soles Bless Souls initiative to provide shoes to the members of the Forrest L. “Dusty” Rhode Boys & Girls in Portage.
“We really reached out to the community to help make this project a success,” said Ben Polhemus of Project Northwest Indiana and President of the Portage Resale Shop, who accepted donations on behalf of the fundraising effort. “Because of the generosity of our community members and New Balance, we were able to generously donate over 100 pairs of new shoes.”
The Boys & Girls Club of Porter County provides children ages 5 to 18 with quality programming emphasizing character and leadership, education and career development; community service; technology training; financial literacy; health and life skills; the arts; sports, fitness and recreation; and family outreach.
The club operates facilities in Valparaiso, South Haven, Duneland and Portage. For more information on becoming a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County or ways you can become involved or to make a tax deductible donation, please call (219) 464-7282 or visit www.bgcpoco.org.
Photo: (l-r) Portage Club members Sonny Hernandez and Amara Klein.