ILCC Emmetsburg student senators: (front row) Cassidy Hannah and Mari Schmidt and (back row) Rebekah Bauer, Nathan Naber, Kaylea Christiansen, Melea Nielsen, Jordyn Moyes, and Bryce Engelhart.
A college with five campuses in north-central and northwest Iowa wants your shoes.
Student Senators at Iowa Lakes Community College (ILCC) are organizing the “Soles4Souls” shoe drive. ILCC Emmetsburg Campus Student Senate Advisor Bill Lapczenski says this is the seventh year they’ve led a fundraiser for the nonprofit group Soles4Souls.
“They faciliate the donation of new and used shoes to those less fortunate individuals worldwide,” Lapczenski said. “To date, they have distributed over 30 million shoes to 127 countries around the world.” In addition to Emmetsburg, there are ILCC campuses in Algona, Estherville, Spencer, and Spirit Lake. There are donation dropoff sites on all five of the Iowa Lakes campuses. ILCC has partnered on this project with an organization in Sheldon that provides work opportunities for people with disabilities.
“After we collect the shoes, they’re taken to Village Northwest Unlimited…they kind of clean ’em up a little bit and then they’re shipped to the Soles4Souls distribution center,” Lapczenski said. Donors are asked to tie shoes together by the shoelaces or bind them with a rubber band before placing them in the collection boxes. The shoe donation drive runs through this Wednesday (March 28).
(Thanks to Matt McWilliams, KICD, Spencer)