Shoe Drive coordinators, Maxine Meine and Kathy Hillesheim, got their grandkids in on the action.  Pictured with the shoes already collected, from left:  Maxine Meine, Carlee Meine, Connor Meine, Brantley McVicker, Colson Meine, Kreighton McVicker and Kathy Hillesheim.

St. Raphael School conducting shoe drive

 

St. Raphael Catholic School is encouraging everyone to do some fall cleaning—of your closets, that is.  They are conducting another shoe drive for the school.  By collecting gently worn footwear, the school earns funds based on the total weight of the shoes collected through the Funds2orgs network.  The school’s goal is 90 bags  of shoes by November 7. The Funds2orgs network redistributes the shoes to it’s microenterprise partners in developing nations where shoes (walking) are the primary mode of transportation.  The partners also help impoverished people start, maintain and grow small businesses in countries such as Haiti, Honduras and other Central American and African nations.

     The school has set up a collection box in the Gathering Space at St. Raphael’s Catholic Church and the footwear donations are rolling in.  Each pair has to be examined and rubber-banded together.  Badly worn shoes will not be accepted by the network.  The shoes are bagged, twenty-five pair per bag, ready for Funds2orgs to pick them up. Everyone in the community is welcome and encouraged to donate footwear for the project.  If you have larger quantities of shoes and would like them picked up, contact Maxine Meine (507-276-2188) or Kathy Hillesheim (507-920-3482), the coordinators of the shoe drive. “We thank Maxine and Kathy for taking on this project.  We also thank everyone in the community that have already donated or will donate to make this another successful project for St. Raphael School,” Principal Beth Steffl commented.