Cleaning out your closet could change someone’s life! This school year our Senior Beta club members participated in a shoe drive. On October 9th the Senior Beta club started collecting new and gently used shoes of all kinds and all ages ranging from baby to adult. They collected sneakers, flip flops, high heels, sandals, boots, etc. The Funds2orgs shoe drive was planned to end on December 9th, but since the pick up date wasn’t until January 13th, they continued collecting until then.
Unfortunately, only 21 out of the 56 members in the Senior Beta club participated in this drive so the group did not meet its goal. With most bringing in 10 pairs of shoes or under. However, a majority of the shoes collected were brought in by 4 club members to bring their collection at least half way to their goal.
The 4 club members who collected the majority of the shoes are senior Mara Schmader, who brought in 140 pairs of shoes, freshman Olivia Norris who brought in 244 pairs of shoes, freshman Deanna Gruber, who brought in 168 pairs of shoes, and freshman Kaelyn Marling who collected 75 pairs of shoes.
In order to be successful with collecting shoes, some of the club members took collection boxes that the Senior Beta club had prepared for the shoe drive.
Gruber explained how these steps helped her be a successful collector, “We took several steps to be able to help those in need, and it was a huge accomplishment. Having boxes out in the public helped us connect with several people to help individuals in need. With each bag filled and collected, it encouraged us to take further action and perform a good service.”
Schmader and her family texted everyone they knew about the shoe collection. They were either able to set up a time to go and pick up the shoes, or had their friends and family deliver the shoes to them.
Norris also took different steps in order to be successful with collecting. Norris took one of the collection boxes, and both of her parents were able to collect shoes for the drive from their work. Much like Norris and Gruber, Marling also had each of her parents take a collection box to their work.
In total, our Senior Beta club collected 1,062 pounds of shoes. When the shoes were brought to the school, they either rubber banded them, or tied their laces together. Every 25 pairs of shoes were put into clear plastic bags that were provided by the company, our beta club was able to collect 41 bags of 25 pairs of shoes each.
This service also acted like a small fundraiser for the club since for every pound of shoe collected we were paid $0.40. The total money they were able to raise was $424.80, but because they were under the 100 bags minimum and under 2,250 pounds, they had to pay a freight deduction of $125. So in total our Senior Beta club was able to raise $299.80 through this service.
Although this is the first time Lakeview has helped with this kind of service, Sr. Beta Club adviser Angela Sarko plans on doing this again. “All those who were successful in collecting for our shoe drive plan on sharing their secrets with the larger group. And we plan to start collecting as soon as we get back from the state convention in February.”
Hopefully through sharing their strategies with each other, the Senior Beta club will be able to get closer, or even meet their goal next school year. Teamwork is crucial when it comes to achieving goals. Anticipating that some of the group’s success in collecting is inspirational to other members of the Senior Beta club to help, and hopefully they can get more participation in February!
Nice work Senior Beta!
