The new organiser of the Timaru Shoe Initiative says he is disappointed with the turnout to his first event on Saturday but he is not "disheartened".
Hundreds of shoes were donated for the initiative which aims to help those in the community who struggle to buy shoes but only 30 people came along to see what was on offer, organiser and South Canterbury radio host Owen Jackson said.
"It went well for those people who supported it, but all in all it wasn't as well supported as I hoped it would be," Jackson said.
"On one level it was successful because those people who came through got some good shoes. It made a difference to a few people, just not as many as I would have liked."
About $65 in gold coin donations were collected as well, to benefit Presbyterian Support South Canterbury.
Jackson, who took over the initiative from Mel McLean last year, said he was "disappointed but not disheartened" and already planning the charity's next event: a gumboots and covered shoes giveaway to ease the financial burden for families as they prepared for winter.
"If you let a perceived failure get on top of you at the first hurdle you won't get anywhere in life," he said.
"We're sitting down and working through how we can make it better.
"Maybe it was too close to the beginning of the school year. Maybe we need more contact with the schools, getting it into their school bulletin."
Jackson was thankful for the support leading up to the event - to Oceanview Heights School principal Sandi Abel for allowing him to use the school's hall, to Auto Parts PartsWorld manager Richard Brown for helping transport the shoes to the hall, to the five businesses that provided donation drop-off points, and to all those who donated quality shoes.
Leftover stock would be sent to op shops around the region such as Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul Society, and St John.
"There's some really good footwear there and it seems a shame for it to go to waste," he said.