Feet for Francis shoe drive Resonates with K-8 students

http://www.catholicreview.org/article/life/catholic-education/feet-for-francis-shoe-drive-resonates-with-k-8-students

Feet for Francis shoe drive resonates with K-8 students

October 13, 2015

By Paul McMullen

[email protected]

GLEN BURNIE – As others enjoyed a relaxed lunch hour Oct. 9, Ilvin Rodriguez worked up a serious sweat.

Rodriguez is a collection driver for Funds2Orgs, the Florida-based outreach that partnered with the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Catholic Review Media on the Feet for Francis shoe drive that complemented the Pilgrimage of Love and Mercy.

He had already made morning pick-ups at Immaculate Conception School in Towson and Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore, which had served as consolidation points for nearby parishes and schools that had registered for the shoe drive.

Monsignor Slade Catholic School in Glen Burnie served as a stand-alone site, however, as it more than doubled its goal of 2,500 pairs of shoes by collecting 5,125.

The Slade community filled 205 of the large bags supplied by Funds2Orgs, more than 20 percent of the 954 bags that Rodriguez picked up in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City and Baltimore County Oct. 7-9.

The Slade effort got a considerable boost from one of its families. According to the school, Patricia and Everette Wroten, parents of third-grader Logan and first-grader Lily, own Vigilant Restoration, which donated 1,550 pairs of shoes to Slade’s effort.

Sally Miller, chairwoman of the school’s Mission Committee, got emotional Oct. 9 as she briefed middle-schoolers ready to move bags from the auditorium/gymnasium to the soon-to-arrive Funds2Orgs truck.

“Some of the bags are heavy, if it takes two (to pick them up), get underneath,” Miller said. “So, before I cry, I want to thank you for your help, and thank your parents and the community, which came through in the way it did. You have supplied shoes for many, many people.

“Say a special thanksgiving to God, because he’s the original provider.”

Funds2Orgs will sell the shoes, at a considerable discount, to micro-entrepreneurs in developing nations; based on the weight of the shoes collected, it will reimburse the archdiocese, money that will go to its charitable works.

Inspiration for Slade students included Lisa Palazzo, communications coordinator, who lined halls with cut-outs of paper shoes for every pair donated.

“This community is generous beyond belief,” said Alexa Cox, principal.

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