The campaign has collected about 1,800 pairs of shoes as of this week, far short of the 3,000 it had hoped to raise by the July 29 deadline which is Tuesday, organizer Christy Smith said.

Smith believes this has so far been a successful outreaching by the community but she is still hopeful the community can find it within itself to come up with 1,200 needed in the final week, she said.

Last year the drive raised 4,300 pairs of shoes.

Project aims to collect 3,000 pairs of shoes

Drive to get shoes for Charlotte County children runs from June 21-July 27

By TEDDI THOSATH
Sun Correspondent

Becky Buchacher has seen students come into her Murdock Middle School nurse's office with toes poking out of tennis shoes, shoes with worndown soles and flipflops about to break. And over the past three years, she has been able to give her students brand new pairs of shoes to remedy the tattered footwear, thanks to the Shoes for Kids Project.

"I got an e-mail (a couple years ago), and the next thing I know the following August when I came in, I had like 100 pairs of shoes. And I think I got 150 pairs of shoes this August," Buchacher said. "I probably have maybe just 20 pairs left. And that's because they also brought me more shoes just a month or two ago."

The Shoes for Kids project, beginning June 21 this year, collects new shoes for Charlotte County students during a five-week drive and gives them to Buchacher and other representatives at schools in the district -- this year again involving all 20 schools, including the Baker Center, where every single child will receive a pair of shoes, project creator and organizer Christy Smith said.

The Edison College mathematics professor first started the drive in 2004, collecting about 550 pairs of shoes. The local project, sponsored by the Sunrise Kiwanis Club of Port Charlotte, collected 4,300 pairs of shoes last year --1,600 more than their goal of 2,700 pairs.

Smith hopes to collect 3,000 pairs of shoes during the drive from June 21-July 27.

"It's amazing that Charlotte County can come up with that much support -- everything is local, there is no corporation donating or anything," Smith said. "We're looking at, like, $64,500 collected in a five-week period -- $15 for a pair of tennis shoes each times 4,300 pairs. It's mind-boggling."

The shoes are given to the schools -- each school requests the number of footwear and sizes -- and then are distributed to the students as needed.

"It spreads word-ofmouth through the school ... and the students get shoes they need -- and that's the great thing about it, the students don't abuse it," Buchacher said. "I've had parents come in before the school year starts and ask for shoes for their kids because they need them."

About 45 sites throughout Charlotte County are planning to collect shoes during this year's project. At the conclusion of the project, the hundreds of shoes will be sorted and distributed by volunteers, Smith said -- adding that everyone involved in the project, including herself, is a volunteer.

Shoes for Kids will also be holding two collection dates outside Wal-Mart Supercenters. At the kickoff of the drive June 21, volunteers will be outside the Murdock Wal-Mart from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and on July 12, they will be at both the Kings Highway and Punta Gorda Wal-Mart locations from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Also, the Sunrise Kiwanis Club will be sponsoring a "Shoe" fundraiser at the Coral Rock Café from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. June 28.

"Even as big as Charlotte County has grown, it's still that small-town mentality," Smith said. "It's neat and so great for the kids."

"One pair of shoes makes a difference -- I'm hoping that's the message the community gets," Smith said. "If there are enough 'one-pair of shoes' (donations), we will get to 3,000. Maybe instead of going out to lunch one day, people will throw a pair of shoes in the box."

Where to drop off shoes

For information, call 941-637-5611 or e-mail cksmith@ edison.edu. Monetary donations can be made to The Sunrise Kiwanis Club of Port Charlotte, P.O. Box 511088, Punta Gorda, FL 33951

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