Donations sought for Steel Center shoe drive

The school hopes to collect 2,500 pairs before next month’s deadline.

A local school is looking for people to “shoe” their love by donating in a different way this holiday season.

Steel Center for Career and Technical Education is hosting a shoe drive through the National Technical Honor Society.

The goal is to collect 2,500 pairs of any kind, gently used shoes, which will be repurposed for humanitarian efforts while also helping reduce waste in landfills.

The collection runs through the end of January, with donation boxes placed throughout the school and outreach extending to families and the broader community.

“This shoe drive is part of a national NTHS service initiative and is being led by our students under the guidance of their awesome advisors,” said Kevin Rice, executive director of the center. “It has been inspiring to see our students take ownership of a project that combines service, sustainability and leadership.”

Student services secretary Michelle Thiry and workbased learning coordinator Stacey Caudill are the advisors in charge of NTHS Chapter 1447, which has 68 members. They’re also leading the drive.

“Stacey and I are ambassadors for NTHS on the national level, and they’re doing this shoe drive nationally,” Thiry said. “So it was a collaborative effort between all of the chapters. We decided we would participate in the food drive. It started on Nov. 10.”

NTHS recognizes outstanding achievement in career and technical education. To become members, students have to meet high academic and attendance standards and be recognized by their teacher for their leadership abilities and technical skills.

The NTHS objectives are career development, leadership, service and recognition with a goal of empowering members and fostering their development in areas essential for success in their future careers. The chapter was honored for meeting its recognition goals last year and was honored for service the previous year.

The chapter is following the funds2orgs fundraiser model after learning about the opportunity during an NTHS Ambassador Advisor meeting.

According to the funds2orgs website, the drive helps reduce textile waste, those that participate earn funds based on weight and the drive supports families in micro-businesses in developing nations.

“It’s a pretty neat concept to keep shoes out of the landfill and to support smaller countries,” Caudill said. “They wanted to make sure communities can take advantage, and support their country through the drive. That was the goal.”

Thiry said the chapter is a student-run organization, and they presented it to their officers and the group. Then, they decided to proceed with the project as a community service project.

“When we presented the idea to our students, they agreed it was a meaningful way to serve communities in developing nations while also reducing landfill waste by repurposing gently used shoes,” Caudill said. “The fundraiser was accessible to all members, as it allowed students to simply collect shoes from friends and family that might otherwise be discarded.”

The shoes are sent to families in developing countries to create job opportunities. According to the funds2orgs website, shoe drives help provide inventory to over 4,000 micro-entrepreneurs in the reuse economy.

Caudill and Thiry called this approach a “welcome alternative” to the traditional fundraiser, and they have 300 shoes so far. They receive four cents for each pound of shoes.

“We’re a little behind our goal, and we need some community support,” Thiry said. “We are working with our classrooms, trying to make competitions for them, and we have this on social media. So we hope to get the word out so we can meet our goal.”

Thiry said the students were initially very excited about the drive. The traction has gone down over the holidays, but they hope to bring the motivation up now.

Rice is trying to get a collaborative effort with the school districts the center partners with, according to Caudill. Students started bagging shoes they already have a couple weeks ago.

“We’re always looking for different ways to get involved in the community, and this was a little bit different as far as the project went because it is not a monetary donation, so we thought it would be an easier way for students to participate because we’re not asking for monetary donations,” Thiry said. “Instead, we are cleaning out the closets, and it’s the end of the year. We thought it would be an easy ask for our students to participate without putting the pressure on them.”

Steel Center is a technical school that hosts students from many Mon Valley school districts, including Elizabeth Forward, Clairton and South Allegheny.

Drop offs can be made from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Mondays through Fridays at the center or by emailing Thiry at mthiry@steelcentertech. com and Caudill at scaudill@steelcentertech.com.