It would soon be the start of a new school year, and dozens of families had spent entire afternoons browsing garage sales in the neighborhood. One mother in particular hoped to find shoes for her children. In the previous year, two of the children had not been able to participate in activities during or after school because they did not have proper and suitable shoes. She knew the expense of buying new shoes would mean the family would do without other necessities, she just had to find something at one of the sales.

The mother searched the tags on every pair of shoes she found, hoping to see sizes her children could wear. Their shoes had holes in them, some were too loose, others too tight, but worse still, they caused blisters and pain in the feet. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find shoes in the sizes they needed. She realized that she had a difficult choice to make. With only enough money for a brand new pair of shoes, she had to decide which child needed shoes now and which should wait.

The above story is real for so many children in our community. Each year, The Old Newsboys of Greater Lansing raises funds through the sale of a newspaper called the “Spoof Journal”. The cost of the paper is what anyone wishes to donate, and those donations go directly towards the purchase of new shoes, boots and socks for the school-aged children who desperately need these items. This voluntary organization has been in existence for almost 100 years.

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In light of COVID-19, we have chosen for the second time to refrain from selling the Spoof Journal face-to-face, our traditional way of raising awareness, to have it distributed to the community with the help of the Lansing State Journal. This change has undoubtedly resulted in a reduction in the amount of funds generally raised, but we are committed to doing what we can and we feel privileged to have the support of the Lansing State Journal in our efforts to continue to provide our journal to you. annual.

When you look inside today’s Lansing State Journal, you’ll find your 2021 copy of Lansing Old Newsboys’ “Spoof Journal”. Our easy-to-use coupon will be available in several editions of the journal; a donation envelope will also be included inside the Sunday December 5 edition. Visit our website at lansingoldnewsboys.org for additional information and donation options. We hope you find the Spoof Journal we have provided a fun, light piece of paper that puts a smile on your face, and please consider joining us in our mission to provide shoes, boots and socks to the children in our community. .

Bill Reed is the chairman of the Old Newsboys Sales Day.