The goal was 150 pairs of shoes and $100 in donations.
The final count was 159 pairs of shoes and $266 in donations from OU students, faculty and staff.
This semester, one senior core group took on the task of raising awareness of foot diseases and fundraising for those less fortunate.
Senior core group member Leah Frey said they decided on the project by accident.
“In the first few days of narrowing down topics, we had discussed TOMS shoes, they gave directions of how to host an event that would benefit their cause,” Frey said.
“Just for the heck of it we ordered the free video and instantly we were all hooked.”
While the video focused on children in other countries without shoes, the group decided to do something that would also help local children without appropriate shoes.
“We also took a look at the problem locally and realized that a lot of children in the local area don’t have proper
shoes,” Frey said. “We saw this problem at a global and local level.”
Children’s shoes that were donated over the three day drive were given to Kick Up Your Heels for Christmas that provides proper shoes for children in the Ottawa schools system. Adult shoes were donated to Hope House and monetary donations were given to Souls4Soles, an organization that ships shoes to third world countries.
Senior core group member Sandra Jennings said she had the opportunity to deliver some of the donated shoes to the Community in Schools office.
“It was great to see pictures of the kids’ reactions when they got their new shoes,” she said.
Those who participated were given a T-shirt if they donated a pair of shoes and a wristband if they donated cash. Students and faculty also had the opportunity to answer questions about the harms of not wearing shoes.
The group then picked a random name to win a new pair of TOMS Shoes. The group ran out of T-shirts but still had wristbands left over.
“We were surprised by the amount of interest that came from the student body and faculty,” Frey said.
While they exceeded their goal, the group wasn’t always sure what the outcome might be.
“Going into the shoe drive we didn’t expect the results that we got,” Frey said. “We were hoping to collect shoes to pass on to the other charities that we had chosen previously. Most importantly, we were hoping to educate faculty and students about this pandemic issue.”
Assistant to the Dean of Students, Chris Burns thought the educational portion of the event was useful too.
“I thought it was good that they were showing why people needed shoes for medical reasons,” she said.
Jennings said it was great to see so many people participate.
“We were really surprised by the turn out,” she said. “It was really successful.”
Burns said the group and their event impressed her.
“This is the first year I’ve seen senior core groups do community service projects,” she said. “It was great.”
Student Life Assistant, Amanda Wadkins said she helped the group give back to a man in need.
“I had a gentleman from the community call and said he wanted to trade some vegetables he had from his garden for a pair of warm boots from the winter,” she said.
She said he called about two weeks later with the same request.
“I told him we couldn’t take the vegetables but I talked with the senior core group to see if they could help,”
Wadkins said. “After the shoe drive, the group brought in two pairs of shoes that were his size.”
Wadkins said Student Activities Connection paid for the shipping of the shoes.
“We haven’t heard back from him yet but I hope he calls to say he got them,” Wadkins said. “The group was able to give back to an adult who reached out to us.”
Frey said the OU community had a great response to the project.
“We had positive response from students and faculty,” Frey said. “Many stopped by to donate and offer their support. Students found it very neat that this was a senior core project. Professors were impressed that this was actually going to help someone in need and that an immediate change could be seen.”
Jennings said they were worried that the first day would just be a reminder to people that their event was going on, but the response was much greater.
“We thought the first day was going to be slow but it was our best day,” she said.
While the group went above and beyond their goal, there is more that could be done to stop the worldwide problem.
“Awareness is the first step to solving a problem,” Frey said.
Jennings said her group is thankful for OU’s participation.
“We’d like to tell everybody thanks for donating,” Jennings said. “OU’s got soul.”