$20,000 Impact Grant awarded to Foundation for PSUSD

News Channel 3 and the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation presented another Impact Grant to a local nonprofit working to improve lives and help those in need. A $20,000 charitable gift was awarded to the Foundation for PSUSD, which aims to strengthen our community by helping students achieve their potential.

At the Palm Springs Unified School District headquarters, the Foundation for PSUSD is preparing to give 2,500 children a step toward a brighter future. And it all starts with a new pair of Converse shoes.

"Really the message is: 'Kids we care about you.' And that's what's so important about this project," PSUSD Superintendent Dr. Tony Signoret said.

This is the third year of the foundation's Shoes for Students program. More than 97 percent of students in PSUSD are at or below poverty level, and shoes are often the first signs of a child in need.

"When the kids open up the boxes with the shoes, they don't know how to express so much joy. They look at it and they're like, 'Oh my God I love the shoes!'" Foundation Director Ellen Goodman said. Goodman said a new pair of shoes can boost a child's self-confidence, academics, and social engagement. "And they'll start to communicate at the school level in a way that before they were withheld, shy, isolated, and so it really makes them feel a part of everything, and that just raises everything up," she said.

The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation and News Channel 3 presented the nonprofit with a special gift of $20,000. The Impact Grant will help the foundation in its mission to help students flourish and prosper.

"When you go to school, if you have hand-me-down clothes and shoes, there's a certain discrimination factor I think. Kids can be cruel sometimes, they don't necessarily mean to but it just happens. So anything that can boost their self-esteem and helps them learn more quickly, more power to it," volunteer James Nixon said.

And something as simple as new shoes, can make all the difference.

"The partnership between KESQ, H.N. And Frances C. Berger Foundation and the Palm Springs Unified School District is second to none, so we really couldn't do this without you. So thank you," Goodman said.

For more information, visit: psusdfoundation.net