Sophomore Tegan Waite demonstrated the far-reaching power of community engagement after hosting a Castleton shoe-drive in the Campus Center, bringing in 325 pairs of shoes. After partnering with an organization close to her heart, the donated footwear will help to provide water for an orphanage in Kenya.
“I had such an overwhelming amount of emotions that I felt as I saw college students coming together along with members of the community to help children who they had never met,” said Waite, explaining the success of the event. “Even people who only stopped by to drop off shoes came with such positive attitudes.
To make the event a success, Waite worked with Health, Education, Ample Nutrition, and Love (HEAL) organization founder Jennifer Musick Wright for Castleton’s first “Shoe-Give-A-Thon.” Wright founded the organization in 2007 and has since raised more than 1,775 pairs of shoes from across the state of Vermont.
The two hour long event was spent collecting, counting and rubber banding shoes to be packed and sent away. On top of the on sight donation opportunity, multiple other donation boxes could be found around campus that contributed to the total number of shoes collected.
The old footwear is then given to Funds2Orgs, an organization that helps impoverished people start, grow and maintain businesses in the global South. For every 2,500 pairs of shoes collected, the organization donates $1,000 to help provide clean drinking water to children ranging in age from four to eighteen at a HEAL orphanage in Kenya.
Waite and Wright have worked closely together for the past four years fundraising for the orphanage together. This summer Waite will see the many fruits of her labor as she prepares to spend 21 days volunteering at the orphanage and learning center in Nyandarua, Kenya.
“This will be my first time meeting all of the children that I have spent years supporting, and I could not be more excited,” said Waite. “My long term goal is to adopt a child from HEAL, so the children, the story, and the cause will always be a huge part of my life!”