Best foot forward

Goodie Two Shoes Foundation in step with needs of kids

special to viewNikki Berti, center, co-founder of the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation, supervised the seventh annual Goodie Two Shoes Giveaway, Oct. 23, 2009. The foundation provided one pair of shoes free of charge to each of 1,582 disadvantaged kids from all over the valley at the event. Supporters of the foundation?s work say kids look forward to distribution days because they?re allowed to select any pair they want. jeff mosier/viewGoodie Two Shoes Foundation co-founder Nikki Berti stands inside the charity?s new 48-foot mobile shoe trailer, which holds more than 3,000 pairs of shoes. The nonprofit organization takes the trailer out two or three times a month to distribute free shoes to children in need. jeff mosier/viewLas Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman presents Nikki Berti, co-founder of the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation, with a key to the city at Las Vegas City Hall on July 7, in recognition of her work gathering and distributing new shoes for children in need throughout the Las Vegas Valley. Advertisement

The efforts of a local charity organizer were recognized last week nationally and locally.

Major League Baseball recognized Nikki Berti, co-founder of the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation, during pregame ceremonies at the All-Star Game in Anaheim, Calif., on July 13. She was one of 30 people selected by People magazine and Major League Baseball to be part of their All Stars Among Us promotion.

On July 7, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman presented Berti with a key to the city for her contributions to the community.

The Goodie Two Shoes Foundation, 10620 Southern Highlands Parkway, #110-474, is a nonprofit organization that provides new pairs of shoes, socks and school supplies to underprivileged children in Southern Nevada.

Nikki and her husband Tony officially created the nonprofit organization in 2007 and have lived in Las Vegas since 1997.

Tony Berti, 38, was an offensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers from 1995 through 1998. The National Football League team held similar shoe-donation events once a year while the Bertis lived in San Diego.

Nikki Berti, 41, donated her time as a volunteer at the events and developed a passion for helping kids.

Upon relocating to Las Vegas, Nikki Berti wanted to bring the shoe-donation concept with them.

The Bertis teamed with Payless Shoe Source and held their first shoe-donation event in 2003, giving about 225 local children a new pair of shoes. For many of those children, it was the first new shoes they ever had, according to Nikki Berti.

"For most people that's unfathomable," Berti said. "But we deal with that every day. Most of us just have a closet full of them and we don't even think about it."

Often Berti meets children who share shoes with siblings or parents.

One brother-and-sister pair had to share a single pair of shoes, which resulted in an alternating attendance pattern at their school.

Another boy had to miss school on the days his mother worked because they shared shoes and she needed them to walk to the bus stop.

Another family of nine shared seven pairs of shoes. The first seven members out the door that day got the shoes.

The number of children helped by Goodie Two Shoes has grown every year since 2003, and Berti set a goal of donating 10,000 pairs of shoes this year.

In order to continue providing such a high volume of shoes, the Bertis said they hope to develop relationships directly with shoe manufacturers, buying footwear in quantity to lower their costs.

A donation from the Engelstad Family Foundation enabled the Bertis to open a new office and warehouse in October 2009. The donation also paid for a 48-foot trailer that can hold more than 3,000 pairs of shoes. The new mobile unit allows them to hold more events than ever before.

Before October, Goodie Two Shoes relied on rental trucks and storage units to provide its services.

Upon entering the mobile trailer on a distribution day, each child is paired with a community volunteer, given a new pair of socks and invited to try on any shoes they want.

Every pair is brand new, tagged and boxed, just like in a shoe store.

Berti said the concept of the distribution process is to empower the kids with choice. For most of the children it's something they haven't experienced before.

Berti said the foundation locates children in need of free shoes by targeting enrollees of free or reduced school lunch programs and identifying children in crisis situations.

Berti said there are about 6,000 registered homeless children in Southern Nevada and more than 140,000 on the reduced lunch program.

Since 2003, the foundation has seen more than 14,000 kids get new shoes.

Berti said it is not uncommon to see a child return to the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation each year wearing the pair of shoes he or she obtained from the charity a year earlier.

"We're just at the tip of the iceberg," Berti said. "We often have to remind ourselves it's a short-term fix for a long-term problem."

In order to determine which schools or groups of children need the most help, the foundation keeps a close relationship with other nonprofit groups and the Clark County School District partnership office.

Beverly Mason, assistant director of the School Community Partnership Program, helps coordinate shoe events with the at-need or at-risk K-12 schools.

Mason said 145 of the more than 350 schools in Clark County are classified as at-need or at-risk.

Mason said the kids helped by Goodie Two Shoes are excited for the opportunity in large part because they're granted freedom to select styles and colors.

"Usually, they're just given something," Mason said. "(The Goodie Two Shoes Foundation) allows the kids to pick out what they like. The dignity of it is what I like."

And while the foundation tries to help as many kids as possible, it sometimes encounters obstacles.

During an October 2009 event, there was a 16-year-old boy who needed size 18 sneakers. The foundation, which usually doesn't stock sizes larger than 14 or 15, had nothing to offer him.

Berti apologized and told the young man she would try to find some larger shoes and reschedule him for another event.

Berti tried for months to track down a pair of that weren't overly expensive. Finally, she received a pair of New Balance size 18 shoes.

At the next event, the young man tried them on and they fit perfectly.

"He took off his old, smelly, crushed shoes," Berti said. "He tried to put them in the garbage can, but they wouldn't fit. So, he just sat them on top."

Contact Southwest and Spring Valley reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.