Now is the perfect time while stationed at home to clean your closets and sort through your large shoe collection-eliminating the ones you will never wear. Many have the time and now have a place to donate and rid themselves of all of the shoes that they never wear or never liked in the first place. The SHS Marching Band is collecting shoes to raise funds for their approaching Band Trip to the Atlanta Peach Bowl during the Holiday Season this year and the Seward Rotary Club and GFWC Seward Woman’s Club want to help promote the effort.
Now is the perfect time while stationed at home to clean your closets and sort through your large shoe collection-eliminating the ones you will never wear. Many have the time and now have a place to donate and rid themselves of all of the shoes that they never wear or never liked in the first place. The SHS Marching Band is collecting shoes to raise funds for their approaching Band Trip to the Atlanta Peach Bowl during the Holiday Season this year and the Seward Rotary Club and GFWC Seward Woman’s Club want to help promote the effort.
The GFWC Seward Woman’s Club members were “looking for a project to work on in their homes during this period of remaining at home and away from the public. The Seward Rotary members felt the same way, looking for a way to “volunteer” at home! At one of the Zoom meetings Dr. Russ Sommerfeld made the statement …”What can we do while home to help others?” The members of the SHS Marching Band are attempting to raise funds to assist with their trip next year to the Peach Bowl. Both Club’s decided to encourage their members and the member’s families to “clean their closets” and donate their unused, new or gently used shoes to the SHS Marching Band’s Shoe Drive.
The deadline to collect shoes for the fundraiser is June 9 th according to Amanda Kenny, the SHS Band teacher and instructor for the SHS Marching Bluejays. “We are almost to our goal, however it is very difficult to gather shoes right now, as the students are not physically in the school. We still need 23 bags of shoes-each bag holds 25 pairs. Our goal is 2500 pairs or 5000 shoes! They must be in good shape. As we bag them we check and already have one bag of “gross” shoes we cannot use!”
The fundraiser goal is to gather as many pairs of new, gently worn shoes that will be sold by the pound to “Funds2Orgs” and they in turn sort them and resell them to third world countries for resale to Micro-Entrepreneurs in emerging countries. The SHS Marching Band shoe drive accepts any type of shoes, including high heels, flip-flops, tennis shoes, shoes with cleats, boots-almost any basically “good” shoe. They do not accept ice skates, roller blades or roller skates.
Simply bag your shoes together in a grocery sack and deliver them to either the school lobby in front of the office during the week or the Seward Rotary Club and GFWC Seward Woman’s Club have a big collection box for the “Shoe Drive for the Band” on the front porch of the Seward Civic Center. The box will be emptied every evening by volunteer Rotarian Todd LaVelle.
“The SHS Marching Band has made all of Seward very proud over the years and we all should support this simple project” stated Jean Kolterman, Project Chair for the GFWC Seward Woman’s Club. “The SHS Band and Music Department have supported our local clubs over the years with a variety of musical talent for our meetings and Fine Arts Contests, as well as the many Fourth of July and Lighted Christmas
parades.
parades.
“We love attending their award winning halftime shows and look forward to their entry in the Harvest of Harmony parade.” Stated Rotarian and former band member John Owens! “Marching band trips are a lot of work and this is a way to pay it forward-just donate shoes you don’t want anymore and help send the SHS Marching Band to Atlanta-after all they are promoting Seward and Nebraska along with Seward High.”
According to Mrs. Kenney, the company wants nice, “gently used” or even new shoes. Please do not include shoes that have been worn painting or others with loose soles or really “gross” shoes. They must be able to be resold and qualify for resale.
Funds generated from the project will assist the students and the SHS Marching Band as they will travel to Atlanta this Holiday Season and participate in the annual Peach Bowl activities. “This is the first major band trip for the SHS Band in several years and we are all looking forward to it. Any support and help with donated shoes is most appreciated!” thanked Mrs. Amanda Kenny. She appreciates the support of both the Seward Rotary and GFWC Seward Woman’s Club and is anxious to complete this drive, hopefully early Just leave your shoes at the high school office or the porch of the Seward Civic Center in the gray boxes at 616 Bradford Street, across from the Dairy Queen!
Questions can be directed to Mrs. Amanda Kenny at Seward High or email her at Amanda.kenny@sewardschools.org or call the school at 402-643-2988.