Earlier this month, the hallways of Benjamin Franklin Elementary School were lined with hundreds of pairs of shoes donated by students, according to Carlee Cimorelli, physical education teacher, who had the idea for her school to participate in an annual nationwide drive called Soles4Souls.
Cimorelli says that the school partnered with her friend, Jen Wells, manager of Brighton Collectibles in Quakerbridge Mall. The store chain participates in the shoe drive each year, including the Lawrence location.
As a physical education teacher, Cimorelli teaches students from different grade levels, and therefore teaches many more students each week than a classroom teacher. Her position gave her the opportunity to inspire a large swath of the student population to make a difference in the world.
She knew that students at her elementary school are very civic minded. The project was an opportunity to learn about the challenges citizens of developing countries face as they grapple with extreme poverty. Instead of asking to put themselves in the shoes of someone less fortunate, the children were asked to put their shoes on children who are not privileged enough to own footwear.
“I liked that we did Soles4Souls because it helps kids that don’t have shoes,” said Alex C., a second-grade student.
According to the Soles4Souls website, in many countries around the world, walking is the primary source of transportation, and walking barefoot leaves people susceptible to disease, parasites, or injury. Owning a pair of shoes dramatically improve the safety of walking. Cimorelli said the Nashville-based nonprofit focuses on a different area of the world each year. This year shoes will be going to the island Madagascar off the continent of Africa.
“Every year they go somewhere different,” Cimorelli explained, “This year, the shoes are going to Madagascar to adults and children in need.”
“Shoes are what keeps communities going,” said Preeta, a third-grade student.
Cimorelli said that she made an announcement at the school, sent home flyers and reminded her students that if they found shoes that they had outgrown during spring cleaning to bring them in for the drive.
“I went to a few third graders and asked if they were interested, and it took off from there. It became a schoolwide effort,” Cimorelli said.
She said that participation was so successful that finding a place to keep the number of shoes that poured in for the drive became a welcomed challenge. Designated drop-off boxes filled up so quickly that Cimorelli had to literally think outside the box for a way to store the trunk loads of shoes until they could be transported to Brighton Collectibles.
“Two boxes of shoes were overflowing into the hallway, so we decided to line the hallway with shoes. It was motivating for students. They saw their shoes and how much of an impact they were making. It was really fun to watch,” Cimorelli said.
“It was really cool looking at all of the shoes lining the hallways,” said Abby, a first grade student.
Cimorelli said students demonstrated a great deal of enthusiasm when presented with the opportunity to help people in need. Pre-schoolers regularly helped to organize the shoes in the hallway, and some students volunteered to assist with the fundraiser outside of school hours.
“I was amazed how many shoes there were and had fun helping Mrs. Cimorelli clean them up after school,” said Max, a first-grade student.
Because of the huge success of the school’s participation in the drive, Cimorelli hopes to make this an annual initiative at Benjamin Franklin Elementary.
“Shoes lined the hallways and the entire school was given time to try to guess how many pairs were out there. I announced the closest guessers at an end of the month school spirit day. We had four students who all guessed within one pair of shoes but no one got it exactly correct,” said Cimorelli.
“My favorite part was when the whole school tried to guess how many shoes there were,” said Asha, a first-grade student.
The drive was so successful that shoes collected at the school alone exceeded the entire goal of the store with which the school had partnered.
“[Brighton Collectibles] goal each year is to collect 1,000 pairs of shoes, and our school collected 1,600 pairs of shoes, surpassing that goal,” Cimorelli said.
According to the non-profit’s website, not only does donating shoes benefit those receiving the shoes, but it is a green initiative that reduces the amount of textiles that end up in local landfills annually. Souls4Soles also provides long-term support through a program in which they help people escape poverty by training them on how to open and operate a micro-business that sells affordable, gently used shoes and clothing to the community that are continuously provided to the entrepreneurs through the non-profit.
Residents can still participate in the drive through June by dropping off shoes at Brighton Collectibles at Quakerbridge. Shoes of any condition, size, or style are appreciated.
Ben Franklin School teacher Carlee Cimorelli collects shoes with students during a shoe drive last month.,
