NAMPA — A Nampa nonprofit is on the verge of a major growth spurt.
The Shoe That Grows is a homegrown effort that is putting shoes on people in need all over the world. The shoe literally grows, expanding sizes, to last years.
Now, the shoe will be available commercially for anyone to buy.
"The Shoe That Grows is a shoe that can adjust and expand its size," explained Kenton Lee, the founder of Because International. "It can actually grow five sizes and last for years."
Lee founded Because International and developed the Shoe That Grows a decade ago after he took a trip to Africa.
"I saw this issue of kids of not having shoes or outgrowing shoes," he said. "So when I got back to Nampa, to my hometown, I really wanted to work on something that I could do to help.
"It's really kind of common sense," he added. "Kids have growing feet, why don't we have growing shoes?"
Over the last few years, Because International has provided shoes for thousands of people around the world.
"We have wonderful supporters and donors who are helping us out and help us get shoes to kids," Lee said. "Different groups that work with kids around the world purchase our shoes and then distribute them to the kids they work with."
The shoe is also creating jobs. It's produced at a factory in Ethiopia, and each production run of 10,000 pairs enables 30 fulltime jobs for four months.
This summer, Lee and his team made a big announcement.
"We are so excited, we've always had people asking if they could buy the shoes for their own kids," he said. "We've always said not really, until now."
The group has launched a commercial version of the growing shoes, and started up a new company called GroFive. The new commercial footwear are called Expandals.
"Just like the Shoe that Grows, they can grow five sizes, they can last for years," Lee said. "And we're so excited now, anybody from a toddler to a men's size 13, anybody can get their own pair of growing shoes.
According to Lee, the Expandals can grow in three places.
"It not only grows in length, it grows in width," he explained. "The real secret sauce is in the bottom, and so the shoe can just naturally lay flat as your foot grows."
The best part is, buying your own pair of Expandals means you are giving back.
"With every purchase of Expandals we're going to be able to get a pair of the shoe that grows to kids around the world who really can't afford them," Lee said.
A new Kickstarter campaign is drumming up the financing needed to get the project off the ground. As of Sunday, it had raised more than five times its $10,000 goal.
"It's going to go through Aug 17," Lee said of the campaign. "We're so excited to keep pushing it, keep promoting it. This is the main way, the only way to reserve their pair of Expandals right now. It's a really fun way to promote a new product."
Lee knows there are needy kids here at home too.
"If anybody knows any kids who need shoes and who struggle with that, we want to help and we'd love for them to reach out to us so we can get the right shoes to the right kids," he said.
For more information on The Shoe That Grows and Because International, click here. To find out more about the new Expandal, check out the Kickstarter campaign here.