Collecting Soles4Souls

Sacred Heart Catholic School is hosting a shoe drive of new and used, wearable shoes now through Monday, December 5.
Wyatt Savant, senior and Student Council President who is spearheading the event, said, “At our student council meeting, we decided that it would be good to do some sort of charity project some time throughout this year to show that we are giving back in some form.
“I went online and I found this charity, Soles4Souls, and I read all about it and, it looked pretty credible, so I thought it would be a good thing to try out. It seemed pretty easy to get started. And I thought it would gain the most participation from the parents, the students and the church, so that is why we chose this particular charity.”
“Our Student Council is very inspiring,” Sacred Heart High School Principal Dawn Shipp said. “It is inspiring that the leaders of our school took it upon themselves to initiate this type of event for not only our school but our parish.”
Since 2006, Soles4Souls has collected and distributed 26 million pairs of shoes to the needy in all 50 states in 127 countries around the world.
Shoes may be dropped off at the church and elementary or high school foyers.
Kimberly Lejeune, Sacred Heart School development director, said, in an email, “We are asking that each student bring a pair of shoes to donate that are in wearable condition. These shoes will be collected and sent to a place in need in an effort to eliminate poverty.
“Every student that donates a pair of shoes will be allowed a free shoe day which will be announced at a later date.”
Savant said he did not know where the shoes from Sacred Heart will end up, but they will initially be sent to warehouses all around the country.
“Whenever something happens, they will send out however many shoes they need to a particular area,” Savant said. ‘For example, with Hurricane Matthew, they just sent a whole shipment out to Haiti. It just depends when it happens and how many shoes they want to send out.”
Savant said there are more than 600 students in the elementary and high schools, and he hopes they can collect at least that many shoes.
“That would be a good goal,” Savant said.
He continued, “Anything from high heels to boots to athletic shoes — any type of shoes — can be donated.
“Hopefully we get a lot of participation.”