WS Chronicle

About two months ago, Lavorice Smith and his wife Jamera set out on a journey to help as many less fortunate children in the Triad as possible, so they decided to start a nonprofit. Although they are still early in their expedition to aid children dealing with the harsh realities of growing up living in poverty, the Smiths have already helped dozens of families in need with their Kicks For Kids initiative.

While talking with The Chronicle earlier this week, Lavorice Smith, who is a native of High Point, said the Kicks for Kids initiative was birthed out of his own childhood. He said growing up in a single parent home, he couldn’t always afford the latest kicks. “I remember Reeboks came out. I wanted Reeboks that year for Christmas, but Mom couldn’t afford Reeboks,” Smith said.

“I wanted to make sure the kids in need have a nice pair of shoes because kids pick on kids when they don’t have what others have because kids are not aware of what the adult that is taking care of this child is going through financially. They don’t know the hardships of that child’s household.  All they know is this kid is coming to school and they don’t have the nice shoes.”

After making several donations to the community using money out of their own pockets, on Saturday, Oct. 19, the Smiths’ nonprofit, Care 2 Love In Action, Inc., partnered with national recording artist Young Fletcher to host a shoe drive outside Footlocker located in the Northside Shopping Center. 

During the event dozens of people stopped by to make donations and Footlocker even joined in by donating five pairs of shoes to the cause. Following the shoe drive, the organization was able to distribute nearly 200 pairs of shoes.

“We distributed 40 plus last weekend and we were in Cleveland Avenue Homes yesterday, where we distributed about 60 pairs of shoes. Family Services is where you can drop off supplies for people in need, so we dropped off about 100 pairs there as well. And with me being from High Point, we partnered with a nonprofit there and donated about 60 pairs of shoes yesterday,” Smith continued. “I believe that if you’re not a part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem. So I feel like I’m just doing my part.”

Despite what they’ve already done, the Smiths say the need is still there. Since word about Kicks for Kids has spread across the Triad, more families have come forward in need of help. 

“We have 13 kids on the list right now,” Smith said. “We didn’t know when we started trying to meet this need that the need was greater than the resources we had … so we’re asking anyone who can to donate and help make things a little easier for these kids.”

To make a donation to Care 2 Love In Action Inc.’s Kicks for Kids initiative, contact Lavorice Smith or Jamera McQueen-Smith on Facebook. For more information, visit “Care2LoveInAction, Inc.” on Facebook.