As relief efforts continue by Red Cross personnel in Haiti, a local Red Cross Club from Ryan Elementary School in Chandler, Arizona spent a week focused on collecting shoes for the people impacted by the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The initial goal was to collect 500 pairs of shoes. Through the dedicated efforts of the club members and an outpouring of support from their peers at school, the final tally netted 2,500 pairs of shoes.

The shoes were collected last week and delivered to the Sports Chalet in Chandler who is working in partnership with Sole’s for Souls. The shoes will be sorted, paired and prepared for shipment into Haiti in the coming weeks.

One of the Red Cross Club members named Emily was quoted as saying, “We wanted to do something to help make a difference for people. A lot of people are giving money, so we figured they might need shoes as well.”

Each classroom at Ryan elementary was monitored to see which class could collect the most shoes. The winning class will be treated to a pizza party in the coming weeks. Some of the club members also reached out to local businesses to help spread the word.

Even though many of the students within the Red Cross Clubs are too young to deploy or make monetary contributions, they are doing their part to provide support to others through donation drives. In this case, it was the commitment of time and energy and they rallied around the drive.