
The Times Of India, Ahmedabad
6 Jul 2016
School kids walk the ramp with cricketer Hardik Pandya
Children of government schools in Anand won't barefoot or with broken slippers and 'chappals' to their schools. Instead, like any other child going to a private school, they too will enter their schools in glossy black shoes. 'Mission Shoes', a foundation run by an interior designer, on Tuesday provided over 7,000 pair of shoes to school children of 30 government schools of three talukas including Anand, Borsad and Petlad.
Each kid also got two pairs of socks with new shoes that were distributed by Nivedita Foundation. They even walked the ramp with actor Manoj Joshi, cricketer Hardik Pandya, Rajya Sabha member Parimal Nathwani, Anand district collector Dhaval Patel and mayor of Vadodara Muncipal Corporation Bharat Danger. BJP MP from Ahmedabad (East) Paresh Rawal later joined the kids for lunch.
"Our target is to distribute 50,000 pair of shoes to children of all the 192 government schools of Anand taluka. This will bring a sense of confidence in them," said Nipa Patel, founder and chairperson of Nivedita Foundation which she co- founded with her architect husband Kamal Patel in 2006.
The foundation has been providing proper uniforms to over 1,200 children of five government schools Sandesar Kumar Kanya, Ektanagar, Gabapura, Rampura and Valasan Mission Schools since last ten years without charging any penny.