Guest Blog – Maggie Harlow: What’s Poppin’

Selfishly, I will confess, I was thrilled to represent my son Jack at his recent show giveaway at Family Scholar House! He had arranged with New Balance to provide 370 pairs of shoes for the kids at all of the FSH homes. When he could not be available for the day of the actual giveaway event, I enthusiastically filled in, grabbing my favorite New Balance sweatshirt for the occasion!

I was stunned to see how much joy and appreciation went into the event – both for Jack and NB, as well as for the kids! They arranged “Whats Poppin” snacks, like popcorn and lollipops! They had a “red carpet” and ordered a cut out of Jack and recruited a professional (!) photographer to shoot photos of the kids with their shoes, proudly worn or held in the box in their arms. The joy I felt was overwhelming and the kids and I had equal fun that day. They ran laps around the room and willingly shared hugs of appreciation with me, a total stranger.

I’m deeply impressed by the entire FSH team, the extra effort they went to for the sake of the happiness of the kids. My only corner of sadness was Jack was not there and missed out on the endorphin rush, but there will more for him to do at FSH over the years!