How this tiny P.E.I. charity helps kids reach their potential

To some they may just look like an old pair of sneakers, but to Paulette Halupa her son's Converse basketball shoes from 1993 they are the embodiment of a dream fulfilled.

Halupa moved home to P.E.I. with her seven children 26 years ago. Before her husband was able to join her, she was struggling to set up a new life on her own when she met Esther Finkle. Finkle worked with the province's Child and Family Services, offering support to families going through challenging times. Halupa remembers how kind and compassionate her friend Esther was.

"She would say, 'We don't know what a person's walk was, we don't know what brought them to this place. So let's just love them. Let's just love them and see what that does.' And she certainly was right," Halupa recalls.

Back then, Halupa was worried about her son Faro — he was having a hard time figuring out where he fit in at his new school, and his mother was concerned he could go down the wrong path.

"He was on the fence about where his life was going. And Esther was helping me get everything straightened out, to set up life back home here in P.E.I. and my son was very interested in basketball. And Esther had told him that 'If you make the team, I will give you a pair of real basketball sneakers,'" Halupa said. "And she got him a pair of Converse sneakers which were the big name at that time."

Faro Halupa made the team.

"It gave him the sense that he was worthy and that he was he was as good as everybody," said Halupa with a smile.

'Love and support'

"People would think that maybe a pair of sneakers isn't that important. But to a child who's there with, you know, 12 other boys, to be equal with them gives you the courage and the strength to believe in yourself and that you can do you can do whatever you set your mind to. And I think that's what she gave him the belief in himself to go forward and to be the very best he could be."

Faro Halupa graduated from Three Oaks High School, became a teacher, and is now the basketball coach at his old school.

And he still has the shoes that Esther Finkle bought him all those years ago.

His mother is proud that he is helping other young men reach their full potential.

"He has continued to pass on the love and support that Esther shared with him," she said proudly.

'She guides me every day'

Finkle spent years holding one-woman fundraisers to raise money to grant small wishes to children in her community.

Seeing the impact her mother made in other people's lives inspired Esther's daughter Paula Finkle to become a social worker.

"She had a strong belief in the goodness of people and seeing the gifts in all of us and the goodness in all of us. She had an extraordinary spirit and an extraordinary soul," she said. "I often find myself asking, what would Esther do? So she guides me every day."

Esther Finkle paid for dance classes and art lessons, she rented tuxedos for prom nights and bought a class ring for a student who was the first person in their family to graduate from high school. She made it possible for kids to go on class trips and experience their first trip over the bridge.

"Mom's belief with kids is that we take things for granted sometimes, those things that spark joy that don't cost a lot of money, but for some families it just isn't achievable to reach those dreams. She believed in bringing joy to children," Paula said.

'What keeps us going'

When she died in 1999, Esther's family and friends wanted to keep her legacy alive — so they started the Esther Finkle Walk for Kids Fund.

Over the last 20 years they have raised $135,000 and granted close to 1,000 wishes to children all over P.E.I..

"These small gestures of dream fulfilment and kindness can be life changing," said Paula. "It may seem like a small thing but it can it can change the path of a child's life — that was her belief and that's what keeps us going."

"She just had a belief in kids. She loved them, they loved her, and that was her passion. And her legacy lives on through the fund and she would be glowing to know that it continues."

This Sunday the group will hold the 20th annual Esther Finkle Walk for Kids. Finkle was known in the community for her love of walking — with a friend, she walked several kilometres every day, rain or shine, greeting friends along the way.

'Like a pebble in a stream'

Halupa along with her children and grandchildren will be there. In fact, the family is the biggest fundraiser every year.

"When we go to doors and when we knock on doors and people say, 'Well I only have a little bit of money' and I say 'You know what, our dreams are small, so when you give us a little money that goes a long ways. It's a help, it's an encouragement to a child and you're making some child's life better,'" said Halupa.

"Just like a pebble in a stream. You drop that pebble in and the circle gets wider and wider. And I think that's what our fund does — it helps that circle grow wider and wider every year."

The walk is planned to begin at the Miscouche Fire Hall at 2 p.m. Sunday. Organizers say everyone is welcome to join the group on the walk and enjoy a free barbecue and concert afterward.

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