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IQALUIT
Coming across a pair of decent running shoes in Nunavut is no easy task, let alone finding an affordable one.

Shannon Watson, left, and her mother Kit MacKinnon, who run The Northern Shopper in Ottawa, are in the process of gathering running shoes for Iqaluit youth. The principal of a school in Iqaluit responded to a Facebook post seeking youth in need of shoes. - photo courtesy of Shannon Watson

For many families, basic human needs such as food and shelter are prioritized over clothing. As a result, youth don't always have access to proper footwear.

Israel Mablick Sr., an Iqaluit resident who shares a two-bedroom unit with his wife, his mother, his sister, his nephew and his five children, said he only has enough money to buy groceries on a weekly basis.

"I don't have enough to buy clothing, shoes, boots," he said. "It's hard to get footwear for children who are growing up so quickly."

Sonja Lonsdale, principal at Joamie Elementary School in Iqaluit, said it's especially important for her students to have an indoor pair of shoes.

"In schools, every student really does need a pair, especially come winter time when they need to take their boots off to go to the gym," she said.

"Some kids come to school without the proper footwear and there's a multitude of reasons for that. For some families, having two pairs of shoes ... it can really start adding up."

She recently became aware of a running shoe donation program in Ottawa, started by good Samaritan Shannon Watson.

Lonsdale got in touch with her after Watson posted a notice on a Facebook group, looking for Nunavummiut in need of shoes.

"I got in touch with her because I had an idea of which students might benefit from this donation," Lonsdale said.

"These programs are always welcomed and we open our arms to those. Shortly, I'll be making an announcement in our first newsletter to let parents know that it's available if they need it."

Watson, who operates The Northern Store in Ottawa with her mother, Kit MacKinnon, said it's not a charity. They just want to give back to communities.

"We want to send shoes to all communities," Watson said.

"We were thinking of ways we could give back to the communities and realized that it was back-to-school time soon. A friend of mine from Nunavut was in town recently and told us how hard it is to find decent running shoes there."

Watson started making calls and spreading the word via social media networks. Since then, they've amassed more than 60 pairs of running shoes.

This isn't their first foray into helping Nunavummiut, though.

Last winter, they started the Snowsuit Fund and sent more than 1,000 snowsuits across the territory.

"That started when a friend of ours, whose son is a pilot, came back from remote communities and told us how shocked he was that some of the youth weren't wearing snowsuits or winter hats," Watson said.

"The reason we're asking people to register students (for running shoes) this year is because of a bad experience we had last winter."

Watson described a week when an RCMP officer brought a large number of snowsuits to a remote community, but they didn't fit any of the youth.

"I was so saddened by that," Watson said.

"What a waste of cargo. Now we need to know who the shoes are going to and what shoe size is needed."

Watson is in the process of contacting Iqaluit principals and registering students before seeing if she has enough shoes to send to other communities.

Her self-imposed deadline coincides with the last sealift arriving in Iqaluit, sometime in September.

Once the shoes are distributed, she'll go back to focusing on snowsuits, an endeavour she hopes to carry out every year with her mother. Every snowsuit is washed and patched up, if necessary, by a family friend.

"We'll collect as many as we can," Watson said.

Nunavummiut youth requiring running shoes can get in touch with Watson through The Northern Shopper's Facebook page.

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