Miles Of Piles Of Shoes

By Susan Coney

The shoe drive to collect 1,000 pairs of shoes to be sent to Jeremie, Haiti, met with great success last weekend. The Reed Interact Club under the direction of advisor and teacher Karen King collected 1,525 pairs of shoes, surpassing their goal.

Ms King reported that the new or nearly new shoes were boxed up in boxes donated by DHL. Braun Movers and several students and parents helped to pack and load the shoes onto a truck, which was driven to the Haitian Health Foundation headquarters in Norwich last Saturday.

The shoes that were not appropriate to send have been donated to other charities around Connecticut who are in need of them. Curtis Packaging donated an equivalent number of socks to be sent. In addition, individual students, families, and classrooms donated almost $400 in cash to be used by the Haitian Health Foundation to benefit the children and families of Jeremie.

Shoes came from Head O’ Meadow, Hawley, and Newtown Middle Schools in addition to what was collected at Reed. Ms King said that at Reed School various Girl Scout troops provided donations. She said that donations came from as far away as Maine and California. “The generosity of everyone involved is staggering, especially if you are me and get to see every act of kindness first hand. Most importantly, there are many lucky people in Haiti who will benefit directly,” she said.