Reinforcing its long-standing tradition of promoting higher education and professional development, the Two Ten Footwear Foundation, a national charitable organization related to the American footwear industry announced that 322 students will receive a total of 800 000 USD in scholarships for the upcoming academic year.

The scholarships are provided yearly to eligible footwear employees and their families through the funds obtained by the Two Ten’s donors and help making more affordable college education and professional development opportunities. The program started to support students nationwide in 1969.

In addition to Two Ten’s traditional scholarship offerings, the Footwear Warriors Scholarship Fund was established in 2013 to promote vocational and higher education among US military veterans who are employed or returning to work in the footwear industry following a tour of duty. With less than 13% of Gulf War veterans holding a bachelor’s degree, the fund helps US veterans meet their higher education goals.

“It was WB Yeats who said, ‘Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.’ Each year since we started our scholarship program, Two Ten has lit hundreds of fires,” said Neal Newman, President of Two Ten. “We’ve delivered close to 19 million USD of college and design scholarships directly to close to 6 000 footwear employees and their children over the last 45 years. The more we grow our unique array of college and professional education scholarships, the more our footwear community thrives.”

Two Ten Footwear Foundation was created by the end of the nineteen thirties in Boston, a key city in the American shoe manufacturing industry, at a time where the country and the industry was heavily impacted by the Great Depression, mainly with the loss of jobs. Nowadays, Two Ten Footwear Foundation works as a charitable foundation offering Financial Assistance, Crisis Counseling, Community Resources and Scholarships to those working in the footwear industry. With no fees or membership required to benefit from their services, the foundation notes that in 2013 they managed to provide 2.5 million USD in financial support and scholarships, helping 2 000 families mainly with their house, car and utilities payments.

For detailed information about Two Ten Footwear Foundation you can visit their website.