Get rid of your old shoes and help those in need at the same time. Shades Valley High School Boys’ Basketball is having a SHOE DRIVE to help the homeless and make the earth a better place. The team now touts the motto, “We don’t want the shirt off your back, just the shoes off of your feet.” They are involved in more than just competitive basketball play, but more importantly off the court, they have joined together to host a school-wide community service effort in partnership with Eco Sneakers.
The team is collecting sneakers and any shoes with rubber soles to be recycled and donated to the poor around the world. The soles of sneakers that cannot be worn, are recycled and used to make environmentally safe products like playground floors, instead of polluting our landfills.
This initiative is organized by Varsity basketball player Christian Stewart who wanted to make a difference by involving his team and the whole school. The campaign has been promoted through website presence, posters, daily school announcements, and even emails in Christian’s community to get his neighbors on board. Marked collection boxes have been placed outside the Shades Valley High School gym and around Shades Valley/JCIB for daily contributions. So far at least 300 pairs of sneakers have been collected, with more steadily pouring in. The team has worked together to mate and tie sneakers together for easy distribution.
On Tuesday, October 27, 2015, at 2:00 p.m., The Eco Sneaker Corporation will pick up the donated shoes from Shades Valley High School to be shipped around the world.
Everyone in the greater Irondale community is encouraged to come and support this very worthy cause !