On Friday, October 6th, the fifth and final installment of Operation Sole 2023 took place with members of the Edmonton Police Service School Resource Officer Program helping 25 youth pick out footwear from Footlocker at West Edmonton Mall.
“There’s amazing shock value when the youth come in and we let them know there is not a pair of shoes they cannot have,” Superintendent Derek McIntyre said.
Building relationships
Operation Sole is an Edmonton Police Foundation initiative that takes place every summer to give youth, Indigenous women, and seniors, the chance to interact with police officers while building their wardrobe.
“Our goal with any program we do is to build positive relationships with between police and the community,” said Elisha Jackson, Executive Director of the Edmonton Police Foundation.
Operation Sole puts everyone involved into an environment where conversations can be had, laughter can be heard, and the sense of fashion techniques can be exchanged, Jackson said. This year Operation Sole has assisted 160 people with shopping for shoes and clothing items.
“We want to continue to build this bridge to community safety with youth with, community members, and with our police service,” McIntyre said.
Operation Sole is made possible through the generosity of the Edmonton Civic Employees Charitable Assistance Fund, and the efforts of the Edmonton Police Foundation, the Edmonton Police Service, Footlocker, and our community partners. Special thanks to individual officers for their time and efforts throughout the Operation Sole campaign.