Caught In The Web

BESTFOOT.ORG

Lakewood resident Suzanne Collins is the president of CareerLink Companies, a job training and placement agency. She’s also a new board member for Attitudes & Attire, a nonprofit agency that gives underprivileged women tools to succeed in the workplace. The two roles, Collins says, are “a nice fit.”

Funny — that’s exactly how Attitudes & Attire alumnae are describing their new shoes, thanks to Collins’ latest endeavor, Best Foot Forward.

Shoes were the agency’s missing piece — its boutique provides women with professional clothing, but had nothing to dress up their feet. Collins knew the agency wanted to complete the picture (after all, every woman knows that the shoes make the outfit) so she decided to launch a website.

Bestfoot.org invites visitors to make donations in increments of $20, the cost of a professional yet fashionable pair of shoes, Collins says. The site even gives you the option of joining the “Shoe of the Month Club” to purchase a pair every month for a year.

Collins buys the shoes from a major retail company, and the women choose from a collection of samples during their “final dressing.” The first 25 pairs were handed out two months ago to a roomful of grateful career-women-to-be; Collins hopes that number will grow to 1,200 annually.

“Anything we can do to build their self esteem and boost their confidence, that’s what we want to do,” Collins says.