It’s too early in the summer for most parents and students to think seriously about going back to school.

But when classes do resume, inevitably there will be more children than most people realize who will be forced to start the school year with shoes they have outgrown or simply worn out.

That is where Shoe Our Children and the generosity of residents, businesses and other organizations in the Mercer County area kicks in.

Now in its 13th year, Shoe Our Children solicits donations to give students in Mercer County and Brookfield a new pair of shoes to wear to school.

The Herald recently completed its third year leading the fund-raising effort for the program through its Good News Fund, collecting a total of $11,240.

Application forms are sent to public schools in Mercer County and Brookfield to be distributed to parents. The program also includes parochial schools St. Joseph’s in Sharon, Notre Dame in Hermitage, St. Michael’s in Greenville and Monsignor Geno Monti in Farrell.

Anonymity is a hallmark of the program. The volunteers who process the requests receive only shoe sizes from schools. They do not know who will end up wearing them.

More than 26,000 shoes have been donated over the life of the program.

Employees from Winner International sacrifice some of their lunch hours to facilitate the program and deliver shoes to schools.

One of the program’s biggest annual donors, Reyers Shoe Store in Sharon, made its charitable contribution this year.

Reyers co-owner Steven Jubelirer said the store gave the campaign 800 new pair of shoes, an assortment that included men’s, women’s and children’s footwear.

The donations add up to thousands of pairs of shoes Reyers has donated throughout the 13-year history of Shoe Our Children.

Jubelirer said he receives a lot of requests for donations throughout the year, but he always makes sure to donate to local students.

“This fits for us,” he said. “This is what we do — shoes.”

Reyers, Jubelirer said, was also able to secure an extra 100 pairs of donated shoes through Naot, an Israeli shoe company that donates its extra inventory rather than sell it at outlet stores.