Posted on: Monday, August 30, 2004

EDITORIAL
Kalihi ballplayers barefoot no more

It's gratifying to see the strong response to last week's story about Kalihi Valley kids whose basketball careers were being held back by their lack of shoes.

The Advertiser's James Gonser reported Kalihi police, as part of the neighborhood "Weed & Seed" effort, were trying to organize a before-school basketball league for Dole Intermediate students.

But insurance requirements dictated no more barefoot basketball. "Most of them come to school in slippers or barefoot," said Sgt. John Kauwenaole, who heads the Kalihi Weed & Seed crime-fighting unit.

So Kauwenaole put out a call for donated basketball shoes, size 7 to 12, new or gently used. Within a couple of days, dozens of pairs of shoes, plus cash donations, were brought in. Vans, a company famous for its skateboarding shoes, is sending 25 pairs.

Kauwenaole and his colleagues know that you can scold kids, ground kids, arrest kids — or you can do something positive, like get them playing basketball.

With shoes on.

If you have shoes to donate, Kauwenaole will get them to kids who need them. Reach him at 845-1220.