The local chapter of an international organization wants your old shoes. Philanthropic Educational Organization, P.E.O. for short, has teamed up with an organization called Funds2Orgs.com for a shoe drive. The nonprofit international women’s sisterhood raises money to help women meet their educational goals and dreams. Local member Jacalyn Ciboch says the local chapter is very active.
“We support a Starke County woman who wishes to continue her education after an interruption. We have scholarships for high school seniors, women who are studying for their master’s degrees and their PhD’s. We offer scholarships and grants ranging up to $15,000.”
Fulfilling the organization’s goals both locally and nationally takes money, which member Mary Kleinfehn says prompted the shoe drive. She says their goal is to collect 100 bags of 25 pairs of shoes each by July 31st.
“All the donated shoes will be redistributed throughout the Funds2Orgs and shoe hero network. And they give them to these micro-enterprise partners who help them maintain and create and grow small business in developing countries, like Haiti, where educational opportunity is limited.”
Kleinfehn says the shoe drive is a fundraiser for P.E.O. but it will also benefit families in developing countries by helping them to self-sustain.
“They pay 40-cents a pound, and our goal is to collect enough to get $1,000. The people in the developing countries, they get benefits because they can use these to help support themselves. In the United States alone, we dispose of 600-million pairs of shoes a year that end up in landfills. It takes about 80 years to decompose those shoes, so we’re actually helping the environment by helping to keep a lot of those shoes out of the landfills.”
Ciboch and her husband have already collected 25 pairs of shoes toward the goal by going through their own closets.
Drop boxes are available at Five Star, Community Services of Starke County and at the WKVI studios at 400 West Culver Road in Knox. All sizes and styles of new and gently worn men’s, women’s and children’s shoes are welcome.
