Ravenscroft 3rd Graders in The News Observer

Ravenscroft third-graders Allison Arber and Ryan Gerard are leading a shoe drive to collect new and gently used shoes for Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization whose mission is "to impact as many lives as possible with the gift of shoes."




The New Balance Store in Raleigh provided containers for the Ravenscroft students.
Ravenscroft's involvement with the project began when Ryan went into the New Balance store to purchase a new pair of shoes and was asked by a New Balance employee if he would like to donate his old ones to Soles4Souls, according to a press release from the school.


"This is a really great program that started in the wake of the 2004 tsunami," said Mark Allard, who owns the Raleigh and Durham New Balance stores with his wife, Kathy.



Mark Allard said that Soles4Souls delivered more than a million pairs to victims of Hurricane Katrina and 50,000 pairs to victims of the wildfires in California.


Ryan donated his own shows to the organization then realized that collecting shoes would make a good service project. He then asked Allison, who attends the same church as him, to get involved.



The students approached Ravenscroft's Lower School director about sponsoring the project and then created and distributed fliers promoting the shoe drive throughout the Lower School.


Anyone wishing to donate new or gently used shoes to Soles4Souls may bring them to the New Balance Store at 6204 Glenwood Ave in Raleigh.

Student Shoe Collectors on NBC17.com

Students from Ravenscroft in Raleigh are helping others throughout the world with the gift of shoes. Third graders Ryan Gerard and Allison Arber know the importance of wearing shoes.

"People who don't have shoes could get splinters in their feet," Arber said.

So the kids launched a shoe drive at their school for the charity Soles4Souls. On the very first day students filled the bin with gently worn shoes.

"It makes me feel really good. It's helping people and I like to help people," Gerard said.

The tsunami's devastation in southeast Asia sparked a former shoe company executive to establish the first shoe drive for the charity Souls4Soles. Donors shipped 250,000 shoes to disaster victims. Hurricane Katrina followed and another outpouring of support with 750,000 pair of shoes. Most recently, 50,000 soles to help people devastated by California's wildfires.

The footwear industry supports the charity as well as grassroots efforts from schools like Ravenscroft. Adults and children brought in bags of new shoes or gently used shoes.
They filled bin after bin for 11 days.

"I thought we'd only get 100 pairs, but we are over that," Arber said.

Gerard and Arber can be proud. Their school donated 500 pairs of shoes. Now the shoes go to a New Balance store off Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh where the owners will foot the shipping bill to the charity’s main warehouse in Alabama. Owner Mark Allard said he'll take and ship even more donations through the end of the year.

“One and a half billion pairs of shoes are in Americans closets right now unused sitting there out of style, don't fit. People's unwanted pairs are sometimes some people's only pair or first pair of shoes in the world," Allard said.

Ravenscroft Third-Graders Lead Soles4Souls Shoe Drive

A couple of third-graders of the Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, NC are leading a Soles4Souls shoe drive to collect new and gently used shoes for the less fortunate. Allison Arber and Ryan Gerard are following the school's legacy to learn, lead and serve.

Ravenscroft’s involvement with the project began when Ryan went into the New Balance store in Raleigh to purchase a new pair of shoes, and was asked by an employee if he would like to donate his unused shoes to Soles4Souls.

“I asked them how many people didn’t have shoes, and they said more than 300 million,” said Ryan. “I donated my old shoes, and then my family and I realized it would make a good service project. I asked my classmate, Allison, who goes to church with me at St. Francis of Assisi, if she wanted to help, and she did.”

The students approached the Lower School Director about sponsoring the project, and then created and distributed flyers promoting the shoe drive throughout the Lower School. The response has been overwhelming, and within two days of announcing the project, the shoe containers were overflowing with donations.

“I visited the Soles4Souls Web site and saw some pictures of children who were wearing paper held together with rubber bands on their feet,” said Allison. “Their feet could get cold or they could step on something and get hurt, so it makes me happy to help them.”

“We have done shoe drives in the past, but this is the first time we have participated in the Soles4Souls program and the first time we have worked with a local school,” said Mark Allard, who owns the Raleigh and Durham New Balance stores with his wife, Kathy. “This is a really great program that started in the wake of the 2004 tsunami. Souls4Soles delivers shoes to those with a need both domestically and internationally. For example, more than 1 million pairs went to victims of Hurricane Katrina, and 50,000 pairs were recently delivered to victims of the wildfires in California.”

New Balance has provided containers for the Ravenscroft students, who will collect shoes through Dec. 8. New Balance will then ship the shoes to Soles4Souls. Allard said that the store was already putting plans into place for future shoe drives involving local schools, so he was happy to help Ravenscroft get started when he was approached by the Gerard family.

Anyone wishing to donate their new or gently-used shoes to Soles4Souls may bring them to the New Balance Store at 6204 Glenwood Ave. in Raleigh.