Laynee’s Sole Purpose

CARIBOU, Maine (WAGM) -

A 2nd Grader from Caribou is making a difference in the lives of other children, one step at time. NewsSource 8′s Brian Bouchard has the story.

Over the summer, Laynee Kirby, a 2nd Grader from Caribou noticed that something wasn’t quite right.

“So last year I saw a girl on my bus with shoes that were falling apart. I wanted to help her, but it was back in the middle of summer so I told my parents about it” -Laynee Kirby – Laynee’s Sole Purpose

“She came to us at the end of the school year concerned about some of her classmates and wanted to know what to do. And my wife and I kind of talked to her a little bit about it throughout the summer, and then as the summer progressed she kept bringing it up and bringing it up, so we knew it was kind of eating away at her so we decided to try and do something about it.” - Andrew Kirby – Laynee’s Father

“…and we made a plan up to give the kids who don’t have the shoes that fit properly, to give them the shoes that they need.” -Laynee Kirby – Laynee’s Sole Purpose

And thus, Laynee’s Sole Purpose was born. The Kirby’s sought out Caribou High School’s JMG program, who designed posters to help spread the word about Laynee’s project.

Laynee and her parents have been collecting shoes, and donations at local soccer games. The shoes will be distributed to kids in need through the JMG program, any monetary donations will go towards purchasing shoes if they do not have a specific size available for a child in need.

“If we can take sneakers out of the equation for them, if that’s one reason they didn’t want to come to school, because they were afraid of being bullied or teased or whatever because of their sneakers, if we can help take care of that, that’s one less distraction for them in the classroom.” - Andrew Kirby – Laynee’s Father

Laynee says that collecting and giving these shoes to kids in need makes her feel good, and she hopes the program continues for years to come.

“If you would like to donate that would be amazing or just give some money that would be awesome to give the kids who need those shoes” - Laynee Kirby – Laynee’s Sole Purpose

The Kirby’s say that donation boxes have been placed in all Caribou Schools, as well as the superintendent’s office, and if you would like to make a monetary donation to contact the Caribou High School JMG Program.

Brian Bouchard, NewsSource8.

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