Bristow collects shoes for developing nations

For the Bristow Elementary School community, having a Shoes For Water drive meant getting rid of old shoes. But for communities in developing countries, it will mean a lot more.

During the past month, Bristow Elementary collected nearly 1,300 pairs of shoes for Shoes For Water, a program run by EDGE Outreach in Louisville. Wes Reece, logistics director for Shoes For Water, collected the shoes from Bristow on Tuesday morning.

EDGE Outreach aims to solve water and sanitation issues in developing countries, Reece said. The nonprofit sells the shoes to an exporter, who in turn sells them to vendors in developing countries, he said. They recycle the materials from any shoes that can't be reused.

“There are very few shoes that can't be reused or recycled,” Reece said.

EDGE Outreach uses the money they get from the sale to buy water purification systems for developing countries and train people in those communities to maintain the system, he said.

Reece said he travels all over Kentucky collecting shoes when they're ready for pickup.

“A trip like this is well worth the journey,” he said. “The young people here did a tremendous job.”

Nichole Simpson, coordinator for Bristow's Family Resource Center, organized the Shoes For Water drive after a student was cleaning out her closet and approached Simpson about donating shoes.

Simpson remembered that Bristow's assistant principal had participated in Shoes For Water with his church and learned more about the program. She liked that it helped developing communities in several ways, she said.

“You get shoes on people's feet who wouldn't normally have any, and it stimulates the local economy,” Simpson said.

At first, she didn't know whether she could pull it off, she said. The shoes were donated into a disorganized pile and had to be tied together and collected into trash bags.

“It seemed like I was in over my head,” Simpson said.

But students on the school's leadership team really stepped up, and in just a few weeks, about 30 trash bags full of shoes filled the storage room at Bristow, she said.

“It smelled like rubber and feet for so long,” Simpson said.

Maegan Rogers, 12, a sixth-grader at Bristow, is a member of the school's leadership team. The group organized the shoes as they were donated each day.

“It gets us involved with other kids instead of just being in class all day,” Maegan said.

She said Shoes For Water is the best project the leadership team has participated in so far. She has younger sisters, so knowing the shoes would be going to little kids in need made it worthwhile, Maegan said.