Quite the feat: CRMS students send 500 pairs of used shoes to needy souls around the world

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed)Post Independent(John Stroud) Glenwood Springs, CO- CARBONDALE, Colorado — Friends and fellow Colorado Rocky Mountain School juniors Kelsey Bohannon and JJ Worley recently found a way to help needy people around the world, and keep what otherwise would be trash out of area landfills.

Through the Soles4Souls shoe charity, they collected some 500 pairs of used shoes from throughout the Roaring Fork Valley. The shoes will be sent to a warehouse in Nevada, and eventually shipped to villages around the world where people cannot afford to buy shoes themselves.

“I heard about it and it just interested me as a way for people do something for those in need without sending money,” said Bohannon, 16, who lives in Glenwood Springs.

“Some people don't like giving money, because they're not sure what's really going to happen to it,” she said. “There's not much else you can do with used shoes, though. You know someone is going to be wearing them who needs them.”

Worley, also 16, from Carbondale, looks at it as a “one person's trash is another person's treasure” sort of approach to global charity.

“People really do get tired of donating money. This is a way to get rid of something you'd be throwing away anyway, and for a good cause,” she said.

Bohannon and Worley put up flyers around the valley and set up collection boxes at Summit Canyon Mountaineering in Glenwood Springs and at Dos Gringos Burritos in Carbondale.

博恩农说：“他们要求我在山顶上空箱子，因为它溢出了。”“鞋子填满了我的车。”

一旦他们收集了所有的鞋子，他们意识到即使在UPS获得80％的慈善折扣之后，他们也将花费230美元将其运送到内华达州。因此，他们与阿斯彭滑雪公司联系，并覆盖了运输成本。

“We didn't even think about the money part of it,” Worley said. “We really want to thank the Skico for helping us out.”

They received some interesting shoes along the way, including some Go-Go boots, a pair of snowboard boots, and ballet slippers.

“Some of them are pretty fancy shoes, and not very used at all,” Bohannon said.

Miser's Mercantile, a local second-hand store, also donated some of the shoes it had in stock, and the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary collected a box of shoes as well.

The students may do another drive in the future, but their collection efforts are done for now. However, Independence Run and Hike, a local running and outdoor gear store, is also a collection location for Soles4Souls.

The store, located in the Gateway Plaza at Highway 133 and Cowen Drive in Carbondale, is collecting “gently worn” footwear and/or monetary donations to help ship the shoes.

The shoes sometimes go to victims of a natural disaster, or who are subject to living in extreme poverty, according to the organization's website,www.giveshoes.org.

“It is estimated that Americans have 1.5 billion pairs of unused shoes lying in their closets,” it notes. “The charity can use each and every one of these pairs to make a tangible difference in someone's life.”

Independence Run and Hike owner Brion After said he is glad to contribute, both in the charitable sense and because of the reduced environmental impact of recycling used shoes.

他说：“我们相信照顾照顾我们的土地。”“与鞋底4Souls合作，可以使本地跑步和远足社区成为环境管理者，并协助全世界有需要的人。”188bet网址怎么打不开jstroud@postindependent.com

有关科罗拉多落基山学校的更多信息，请联系lraleigh@crms.org