Slippers collected in son's memory
BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer

Kellie McDavideit (left) sits with the bags of slippers donated to the annual "Wiggly Warm Toes" slipper drive she started in 2005 in honor of her son, Ian (right). Ian passed away at the age of 3 from cancer in 2004. More than 200 pairs of slippers were collected for the patients at The Children's Hospital at Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick.

METUCHEN — It started with a pair of The Wiggles slippers.

"It was Ian's favorite pair … he always wore them," said Kellie McDavideit, who started a slipper drive called "Wiggly Warm Toes" in January 2005 in honor of her son.

It has been about four years since Ian passed away at the age of 3 from rhabdomyosarcoma, a malignant soft-tissue tumor found most often in children, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Since then, the McDavideit family, which also includes Kellie's husband Brian, and their three other children, Allison, 10, a fifth-grader at Edgar Middle School, Eric, 5, a kindergartner at Moss Elementary School, and Olivia, 2, have collected over 450 pairs of slippers for the patients at The Children's Hospital at Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick.

"My son actually had left his slippers out in the hall while he was at the hospital, and another child had taken them," said Kellie. "My husband had to ask for the slippers back."

The incident, and Ian's love of his Wiggles slippers, led to Kellie's decision to hold the slipper drive.

"I asked Kristal Neal, child life coordinator at the hospital, if a slipper drive was ever done, and she said no," Kellie said.

Kellie said they collected 150 slippers the first year, and about 100 slippers were collected last year.

"This year I was actually not going to hold the drive because of the economy … my husband said to try it and see what we get," she said. "He asked his friend in Scotch Plains, and her daughter, Danielle Schweizer, took it upon herself, after hearing about the slipper drive, to run one at Scotch Plains High School."

Kellie and Schweizer traveled to Saint Peter's University Hospital on Dec. 22 to deliver the 200-plus slippers that were collected this year.

"The drive is wonderful," said Neal. "Kellie sorts the slippers by size, which range from little booties for the infants and character slippers for the elementary- and middle school kids to slippers for the 18-year-olds. The kids come in and try the slippers — some bring them home. It's a special, personal, and wonderful thing."

Kellie said she thinks Ian would get a kick out of what they have been doing with the slipper drive.

"He was such a gentle soul … so kind and caring," smiled Kellie as she

reminisced about her son, who would have been a third-grader this year. "He loved the Wiggles and Buzz Lightyear."

Kellie said her family has been on the receiving end of a lot of kindness over the years.

"It's nice to give back and help the other kids," she said.

For more information about the drive, email Kellie at kelbri27@optonline.net.