Students in the Introduction to Leadership class, from left, Clare Bubniak, Holly Hagerty, Wren Droege and Lyndse Hokanson, stand in front of the shoes collected at South River High School. The shoes will be sent to Haiti to help earthquake survivors. Mitchelle Stephenson — For The Capital
By MITCHELLE STEPHENSON, For The Capital
Two local public schools have been working hard to help earthquake survivors in Haiti. South River High School in Edgewater and Shady Side Elementary School have signed on with the national charity, "Soles 4 Souls." They help deliver shoes to not only people in third-world nations like Haiti, but also the needy here in the states.
South River signed on after philanthropist and activist Brian Williams (not the news anchor) came to their school in the fall to give a presentation about the the group's shoe collection and distribution effort. Brian previously founded "Think Kindness," and serves on the board of Soles 4 Souls.
Part of the philosophy of Soles 4 Souls is that if each person who gets involved can bring in a few others, the efforts of a few people can quickly grow to encompass an entire community.
Shelley Finkelstein, a teacher at South River leads an Introduction to Leadership year-long course that helps students hone leadership skills. The class is open to any student, and many are club presidents and team captains at South River.
"Some kids aspire to be leaders," Shelley said, adding that each year the leadership class takes on several service projects. For example, in the fall, they collected nearly 100,000 pounds of food for Harvest for the Hungry. As part of that effort, they are always looking for groups and organizations to partner with for their community outreach.
This past fall, local business owner Joe Van Deuren, who serves on the school's Business Advisory Board, heard about Soles 4 Souls and offered to fly Brian from California to Annapolis to make his pitch for the shoe program.
After Joe brought Brian in, the students were so inspired that they brought him back so that the teachers and administrators could hear his presentation.
The students took Brian's advice to heart and after a few short weeks the Introduction to Leadership class had brought in many of the school's other clubs, including Youth Rise, Success Team, the National Honor Society, the Music Honor Society, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the girls soccer team and more.
The students decided to conduct "23 Days of Kindness" by trying to collect 2,300 pairs of shoes.
Students and teachers at the school were tasked with bringing in slightly used shoes or cash contributions. Soles 4 Soles has deals with shoe companies to purchase two pairs of shoes for each $5 donation.
In the middle of the shoe drive, the earthquake in Haiti happened, and the students decided they wanted their shoes to head to the tattered Caribbean nation.
A few of the principle players in the class and the Soles 4 Souls project are 17-year-olds Clare Bubniak, Holly Hagerty, Wren Droege and Lyndse Hokanson.
To get the word out to fellow students, one of the leadership class participants, Ky Wildermuth, created a video explaining the purpose of the shoe drive and encouraging students to bring in "just one pair." Ky's video directorial debut was recognized last year when he entered an online competition and won a cameo in the film, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."
To continue the drive, students organized a walk-a-thon for April 10 in Crofton, beginning at 10 a.m. At the "Walk a Mile 4 Their Shoes Walk-a-thon," cash donations or gently used shoes can be dropped at any time at the starting location - Crofton Country Club, 1691 Crofton Parkway. Minimum pledge to walk the three-mile course is $20. The event originally was scheduled for this Saturday but changed because of the forecast of snow.
Further information about the shoe drive, pledge forms for the walk and Ky's video are available at www.soles4 soulsfundraising.org/srhs.
At Shady Side Elementary, about 70 students who are participating in the school's Volunteer Club, led by teacher Jennifer Sturgell, also decided to work on a shoe drive for the same group - Soles 4 Souls.Over the past week, they've been collecting gently used shoes to send to Haiti. They focused their drive on work boots, sneakers and children's shoes. In a little less than a week, they've collected over 250 pairs of shoes.
Parent volunteer Lillian LeCroy said that the "collection is great for children because it is tangible and they can all help by donating their own shoes." Lillian's husband Phillip traveled to Haiti and some of the photos he took were used in the posters announcing the school's shoe drive.
They are accepting shoes in the front office today and tomorrow at the school, 4859 Atwell Road in Shady Side.
Local photographer Linda McCarthy of Visual Concepts in Davidsonville last year had the honor of photographing the Thorpe family of Annapolis for a family portrait. Frank Thorpe Sr. had just retired from the Navy and his son, Frank Jr. and daughter-in-law Jillian were headed to Haiti to perform missionary work.
Jillian was caught in the earthquake and miraculously survived after being rescued by her husband, whom she reached on her cell phone They have since returned safely to Annapolis.
Linda was so touched by their story that she is encouraging people to donate to Haitian relief efforts by offering a free sitting and 5x7 photo session to those who contribute at least $50 to www.haitianheroes.com. For more details on the offer, visit www.visualconceptsltd.com.
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