Elementary students at St. Catharine of Siena School in Reading are helping the needy while at the same time learning lessons about economics and world affairs.
Students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade have been collecting gently used shoes for the past two years, more than 2,500 pairs in all. If laid end-to-end, that’s enough shoes to stretch the length of 116 school buses.
The kids donate the shoes to a nationwide non-profit called Soles4Souls. The charity either ships them around the world to people affected by natural disasters, or it sends them to developing nations to enable “micro-enterprise,” in which poor people start their own businesses selling shoes so they can become economically self-sufficient.
“I feel bad for people who don’t have shoes to wear, so I brought as many as I could,” said Cece Wright, 13.
“This is a good opportunity for people to donate shoes and help those who need them,” said Eddie Oscar, 14.
Evelyn Nguyen, 13, summed up the school shoe collection project this way: “It’s about hope. It shows that there are people who really do care. We can keep this going with the help of others, and with our own determination.”
“Because We Are Catholic” tells the stories of how the people of the Diocese of Allentown make a difference in the lives of others, bringing the Light of Christ to each other and to our community.
