If you really want to understand another person, it has been said that you need to walk a mile in their shoes.

Unfortunately, there are children who have no shoes. And there are little kids who must head off to school everyday wearing shoes that have holes in them, even in the dead of winter.

There are children who wear shoes that are two sizes too big, because they are hand-me-downs from an older brother. It’s all their family can afford if they still hope to put food on the table.

Can you image the impact on those children? If you walked a mile in their shoes you would know the blow to self-esteem that comes from being different from other kids. You would feel the sting that comes when other kids make fun of you.

Children can be cruel. How sad must it be to dread having to go to school and have others pick on you for being poor?

Even if you will never truly know that feeling, please mentally walk a mile in their shoes. And after you do, please give generously to the Shoe Our Children fund.

The annual fundraising effort is part of The Herald’s Good News Fund. The goal is to raise enough money to help put shoes on the feet of needy children. The effort runs through June 1.

The program was initiated by the Winner family several years ago, born out of the belief that no child in this area should have to go to school without a pair of warm, comfortable shoes.

And with the help of Winner employees and cooperation of Reyers Shoe Store, the program has provided thousands of pairs of shoes for children.

The Herald joined the effort in 2004 and thanks to our readers, the much-needed program has been a huge success. Area people have dug deep into their pockets to help kids who can’t help themselves.

While some businesses and industries — and even some individuals — have made sizable contributions, it is also the $5, $10 and $20 bills that are sent in by the good people of the Mercer County area that add up.

The children have been blessed to have so many guardian angels in their midst because the Shoe Our Children Fund has exceeded its goal each of the last two years.

But we can’t let up now. Costs continue to rise each year. Even with the volunteer effort and donations, the same amount of money provides fewer shoes than it did in 2005.

Children in public and private schools in Mercer County and Brookfield, from Head Start to 12th grade, who are eligible for free or reduced lunches, can get a pair of shoes.

Tax-deductible checks made out to The Good News Fund/Shoe Our Children can be mailed to The Herald, P.O. Box 51, Sharon, or dropped off at our main office at 52 S. Dock St., Sharon.