Employees from Washington Shoe Company handed out children’s raincoats and rain boots at the Kent Area Council PTA Clothing Bank on April 12.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The family-owned footwear manufacturer, which moved its headquarters to Kent three years ago, is celebrating its 125th anniversary by donating $125,000 in children’s rain gear to local organizations.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Kent clothing bank, which serves families in need in the Kent School District, was the first donation site for Washington Shoe, which sells products under three bands \u2013 Chooka, Western Chief and Staheekum.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Stacy Cail, Mark Moehring, Brianna Lanier and Alyssa Darby, from Washington Shoe, and Maureen Rubino, with the Two Ten Footwear Foundation, spent a couple of hours handing out Western Chief products to the 29 families who shopped at the clothing bank last week. There were Hello Kitty coats and colorful boots for girls, and Batman, Superman and firefighter coats for boys.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tami Lee, co-chair of the clothing bank, said she appreciated the donations and volunteers’ help.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“The smiles I saw on the kids’ faces coming out tonight was awesome,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Shoe donations in particular are hard to come by, Lee said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“We don’t get a lot of kids shoes,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The clothing bank, which is in Kent Phoenix Academy on the East Hill, is opened two Tuesdays a month during the school year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n