Give Your Shoes a Second Sole: Glenrock FCCLA drive Saturday

   If you’re like most American consumers, your old shoes end up in a trash can and then a landfill.

However, you can change that, thanks to Glenrock’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), who are holding a Shoe Drive fundraiser March 22.

Not only will you relieve the landfill of your rockin’ turquoise suede ankle boots from the 80s that could still rock the dance floor, but you’ll be promoting micro-enterprises in third world countries like Haiti.

FCCLA students will come to residents’ homes or businesses upon request in Glenrock, Douglas and Casper on Saturday to pick up your gently worn, used and new shoes, sneakers and even cleats. 

There are just a few types of shoes they cannot accept: single shoes or mismatched pairs, ice skates, roller blades or roller-skates, wet or moldy shoes, or shoes with holes or tears in them.

WHY SHOES?

FCCLA National Vice President of Parliamentary Law Casey “CJ” Toner, said the shoes collected will transform lives globally, “From Haiti to Cambodia, Ghana to Guatemala. The shoes get a second life in places where shoes are the primary mode of transportation.”

This is the first time Glenrock’s FCCLA has done this type of fundraiser. They are working with Funds2Orgs, a global social enterprise who together with the students support over 4,000 families of micro-enterprise partners, with the majority of them being women-owned, according to their website.

“In fact . . . Funds2Orgs, doesn’t usually work with Wyoming organizations. But, we negotiated with them to transport the shoes to their route through the Fort Collins, (Colorado) area and they agreed to work with us. 

“The shoe drive is win-win-win for us. By conducting the (drive) our chapter will receive a monetary payment. It keeps shoes out of land fills and it helps support micro-enterprises in developing countries all over the world,” Toner said.

Over 300 million pairs of shoes end up in landfills each year, according to Funds2Orgs. 

“It takes 30 to 40 years for discarded shoes to decompose. In the countries that the shoes go to, the lack of shoes can deny children an education. Our shoe donation breaks the systemic poverty chain,” Toner explained.

“. . . most people do not know that 70% of the global population uses re-purposed shoes and clothing; that’s over 5 billion people. The shoes . . . serve as a philanthropic bridge to give people a hand-up, rather than just a hand-out.

Toner said there will be about 50 Glenrock Jr. / Sr. High School FCCLA members participating in the shoe drive.

“We have also asked all of our high school peers to participate if they choose. The more shoes we collect, the greater impact we can make.”

WANT TO HELP?

The FCCLA Shoe Drive will take place at the following times on Saturday:

• Glenrock: 9-11 a.m.

• Douglas: 1-3 p.m.

• Casper: 4-7 p.m.

For those wishing to donate shoes, call or text Toner at 307-377-0183, or reach out to him over Facebook messenger, he said, to schedule a time to pick the footwear up. Shoes should be bagged and ready to go at the pickup time.

“Please consider helping this cause and making a difference in your community, and all over the world. Reach out if you have any questions,” he said.

The money raised by this endeavor will be used to make a donation to the FCCLA Ultimate Leadership Fund to help with support for Toner.