By: Julia Mericle
News Assignment Editor
The women’s swimming and diving team is holding a shoe drive to collect shoes for the organization Soles4Souls.
For each dollar donated, one pair of shoes will be given to a person in need.
Soles4Souls is an international, non-profit organization that fights poverty by collecting and distributing shoes and clothes for those in need.
The drive began on April 7 and will continue through May 5.
Shannon Haberman, a junior biology major and member of the women’s swimming team, brought the shoe drive idea to her coach after she noticed the women’s swim and dive locker room had accumulated old shoes throughout the years.
According to Haberman, the collected shoes are sold, and the profits are used to pay for new shoes for people in need.
Those interested in participating can donate online or drop off shoes to the collection bins located in the Thomas Merton Ministry Center, Sandra A. and William L. Richter Center and the University Chapel.
The shoe drive also serves as a fundraiser for the women’s swimming and diving team, with 60 percent of the profits given to Soles4Souls and the other 40 percent given back to the team to offset the cost of sending the shoes to the warehouse. Any extra money will be used to buy equipment for the team.
Haberman said online donations have not been successful, but the team has collected a decent amount of shoes.
“But we would be ecstatic if we were able to get more in the next few weeks,” Haberman said.
According to Haberman, it is important for athletic teams to participate in service projects to give back to others. She said she takes for granted the privilege to have shoes on her feet every day.
“In many areas, if the people do not have shoes, they can not go to school,” Haberman said. “Thus a simple pair of shoes changes their lives drastically.”
Many people clean out their rooms at the end of the year and don’t know what to do with old shoes, so they end up throwing them out, Haberman said.
“So I think that [the shoe drive] is something that is simple for us to do, but it can revolutionize another person’s life,” Haberman said. “I always say that it is the simple things in life that we appreciate the most.”
Anyone with questions about the Soles4Souls shoe drive can contact Haberman at habermsm@bonaventure.edu.
