Smith Elementary Shoe Drive a Success

By Lauren Hollon Sturdy
Buckner International

DUNCANVILLE, Texas —A recent student-led project at Smith Elementary School taught 15 fourth and fifth grade students that they can impact the lives of children around the world.

At the end of the school year,  the Smith Elementary School News Team, a group that records, edits and airs a daily news show for their school, held a shoe drive and a Walk-a-Thon to collect shoes and raise money for Shoes for Orphan Souls.

They used their talents to plan and promote their event. Students hung posters around the halls, did their own remake of a Shoes for Orphan Souls video to advertise during their daily news show and teamed up with students at Byrd Middle School to collect more shoes.

“We chose Shoes for Orphan Souls because it is geared towards children,” said Krystle Gomez, the news team’s sponsor. “I wanted the students to make a real connection. This was truly a student-led project that the students were invested in and will never forget.”

On May 10, the group delivered $1,262 and 128 new pairs of shoes to the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid. A Wal-Mart employee and parent to a second grader at the school added another 697 pairs of shoes to the final count through a donation from the Wal-Mart Superstore in Plano.

Students spent their morning at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid sorting and processing shoes, writing notes to go in each pair and learning more about what shoes mean to vulnerable people around the world.

“I learned that there are people out there that walk places barefoot, including kids our age,” said student Valaya Nokeo.

Of the 477 shoe drives that have been held for Shoes for Orphan Souls this year, 31 of them were led by school-aged children.

“It’s a great project for student groups, because collecting shoes is something tangible,” said Brittany Sumrall, volunteer coordinator for Shoes for Orphan Souls. “The students from Smith Elementary got to see results with shoes coming into their school, and when they came to the Center for Humanitarian Aid and saw pictures of kids in other countries who have received shoes, the project really came full circle for them.”

To learn more about hosting a shoe drive, click here. To sign up, click here.