Every August, The Coffee Oasis hosts Back to School events in local parks to provide youth 13-25 with food, games, and a pair of new shoes.

For many of them, getting a new pair of shoes that fit them just right and aren’t thrifted is a cause for major celebration.

Last year, a young man put on a new pair of shoes at Kiwanis Park. He flexed his toes and did a hop before holding up the worn pair of black shoes being replaced. “These are going in the trash! Look at the holes inside of them!”

A few feet away, another young man showed his pair of old shoes and the tape on the side, exclaiming they were going in the trash too.

In 2025, The Coffee Oasis youth programs provided over 240 pairs of shoes to youth at these events. Based on the numbers we’ve seen in the past few years, we expect even more shoe requests for 2026.

For $75, you can provide a new pair of shoes for a youth, and give them the confidence they need to walk back into school.