Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – For the 70th year in a row a group calling itself AT&T Pioneers held its holiday shoe give-way for the underprivileged school kids of District 186.

The group made of primarily of retirees of the phone company as well as current employees and volunteers works through the year to develop the funds in order to purchase around 400 pairs of shoes for kids who need a helping hand.

This year the kids were bussed from their schools to the Shoe Carnival in the city’s West Side where they picked out the kind of shoes they needed, were custom fitted by staff, got a goodie bag filled with winter-time essentials and treats, got to pick out some new socks and took a trip to McDonalds at the end of the day.

Springfield Fire Dept members were on hand to help out and they brought one of their newest fire trucks for the kids to explore. For the 12th year they helped to sponsor the shoe give-away through their Christmas Tree Wish program.