{"id":6793,"date":"2025-01-18T15:41:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T15:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/18\/brookland-lakeview-empowerment-center-to-donate-over-200-pairs-of-shoes-to-midlands-families\/"},"modified":"2025-01-18T15:41:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T15:41:00","slug":"brookland-lakeview-empowerment-center-to-donate-over-200-pairs-of-shoes-to-midlands-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/18\/brookland-lakeview-empowerment-center-to-donate-over-200-pairs-of-shoes-to-midlands-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center to Donate Over 200 Pairs of Shoes to Midlands Families"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>West Columbia, SC<\/strong> &ndash; The Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center (BLEC), in partnership with SOLE Stepping and Molina Healthcare, will donate more than 200 pairs of new shoes to children from low-to-moderate income families in the Midlands. The event will take place on <strong>Saturday, January 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.<\/strong> at the BLEC building located at <strong>1218 Batchelor Street, West Columbia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The day will begin with a brief ceremony honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose vision of service and unity continues to inspire millions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&ldquo;We are excited to provide this much-needed service to families in our community,&rdquo;<\/strong> said Dr. Cindye Richburg Cotton, BLEC executive director. <strong>&ldquo;Shoes are often one of the most visible signs of poverty. This initiative can make a tangible difference in the lives of children who face these challenges every day.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>SOLE Stepping, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing new shoes and socks to South Carolina elementary school children, will contribute to the event for the first time. The organization&rsquo;s founder, Kara Miller, emphasized the importance of this effort: <strong>&ldquo;SOLE Stepping is honored to join BLEC in commemorating Dr. King&#8217;s legacy. We hope to inspire future generations to continue his work.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Molina Healthcare, a leading provider of managed health care services, is sponsoring the event as part of its commitment to improving the lives of underserved families.<\/p>\n<p>Since its inception in 2016, SOLE Stepping has provided more than 15,000 pairs of new shoes to children in need. <strong>&ldquo;A new pair of shoes can transform a child&rsquo;s confidence and positively impact their school experience,&rdquo;<\/strong> added Dr. Richburg Cotton.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, contact Dr. Cindye Richburg Cotton at <strong>803-744-7943<\/strong> or via email at <strong><a rel=\"noopener\">crichburgcotton@brookland.cc<\/a><\/strong>, or reach Kara Miller at <strong>843-826-1189<\/strong> or <strong><a rel=\"noopener\">solestepping@gmail.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>West Columbia, SC &ndash; The Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center (BLEC), in partnership with SOLE Stepping and Molina Healthcare, will donate more than 200 pairs of new shoes to children from low-to-moderate income families in the Midlands. The event will take place on Saturday, January 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/18\/brookland-lakeview-empowerment-center-to-donate-over-200-pairs-of-shoes-to-midlands-families\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31,32],"tags":[1000,661],"class_list":["entry","author-john-griggs","post-6793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-community-news","category-events","tag-brookland-lakeview-empowerment","tag-charitable-events"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gpstrianglenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sNike-Shoe_2025_630x350.jpg?fit=630%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}