CCA Elementary School students take shoe inventory for project

OXFORD -- Students at Clear Creek Elementary School have participated in a non-traditional community service project to collect more than 500 pairs of worn out, unwanted athletic shoes over the past three months.

On Wednesday night organizers with the school's parent teacher group will prepare a final count before the shoes are sent to Nike Reuse-A-Shoe, which will reuse them in Nike gear or soft sports surfaces.

"Members of the parent teacher group wanted to get the kids to learn about being green and recycling," Mary Trimpe of Oxford said.

The parent teacher group kicked off  the initiative by sending notes home with students.

Later the community became involved by filling grocery carts with donations during the Clear Creek Amana homecoming parade.

While students were able to collect  387 pairs of shoes by Oct. 18, the students had to expand their efforts to make sure they would reach their goal of 500 shoes to ship to Nike by Oct. 29.

Just short of 500 pairs as of Tuesday afternoon, Trimpe said she hopes  the students and their parents will be able to pull together to reach the goal by Wednesday night.

"We only need nine more pairs," she said."I'm confident that this group will come together and we'll be able to do it."

Individuals interested in donating to the cause before Wednesday evening  may do so by calling (319) 331-8178 for more information.

A short video about the project also has been submitted into a Classroom Connections contest in the hope of winning a grand prize of $25,000  for the school.