Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (May 24/99) - If kindness truly is what makes the world go round, then the globe -- or at least the tiny part of it occupied by the Oqota Emergency Shelter in Iqaluit -- should be just about spinning off its axis.

Or so Gordon Barnes would have his fellow residents of Nunavut's capital believe.

Since receiving a donation of 29 pairs of heavy-duty winter boots from a California business, Barnes -- the co-ordinator of the shelter -- and many of its clients, are walking on the proverbial cloud nine.

"Friday night and Saturday morning, we put a very big smile on a lot of people's faces. People were walking around with their chests out," said Barnes. "It was a really nice thing."

As he explained it, Linda Curry, the vice-president of Trukke Winter Sports Products in northern California, has heard about Baffin Island from a photographer friend who did some serious hiking last summer while sporting a pair of the boots. Trukke just happened to have a few dozen out-of-stock high-tech winter boots laying around, so they shipped them up to Barnes and his clients absolutely free of charge.

"They retail in the States for approximately $150 a pair, so we're talking about well over $200 a pair here. You're talking almost $5,000 by the time the shipping was paid and on the waybill was marked that it's a gift," said Barnes, grinning from ear to ear.

Knowing that the boots would be put to extremely good use, Barnes put the word out that the modern looking, black and yellow footwear was up for grabs and as of last Monday afternoon, more than half the boots had been snatched up.

"We decided that we'd give them to people who need them and can't afford to buy them, like people in the homeless shelter and people who are not making quite a good living -- like Joanasie here who's working, but has quite a big family to support."

Enter Joanasie Noah, an employee and volunteer of Oqota and Sailivik, the community's soup kitchen and drop-in centre.

Adorned in a snazzy new pair of hikers that will keep his feet warm and dry in up to -60 C weather, Noah said the new boots more than made up for the fact that he didn't have such great boots to wear last winter.

"They're very comfy, nice and warm. I feel very happy because it's something different. I've never seen these kinds of boots," said Noah.

Rich Breuner, the president of Trukke, was delighted to hear that the boots had made such a big splash among Iqaluit residents and he said that the community was first on his list for any future donations.

An avid fan of winter and harsh extremes himself, Breuner said he thought it was great that the boots had found a good home among kindred spirits.

"One of my philosophies is that if you appreciate hardships and living in a climate like this, it makes life interesting. "If we can help folks make wintertime easier to bear, then (the boots) couldn't be in a better place," said Breuner.