300 pairs of sneakers.  That’s the number of new and gently used shoes collected since July 2 by members of the Coral Academy of Science Red Cross Club, in Reno, Nevada.

Adithya (Adi) Ayanam, the club founder and president, was looking for an environmentally friendly fund-raising project for the club.  During this research, he found gotsneakers?, which has a sneaker recycling program.  They pay from 25 cents to 7 dollars per pair of sneakers, depending on the condition of the shoes.  Their goal is to reduce the number of shoes and sneakers (currently about 200 million pairs per year) which are put into U.S. landfills.

Twenty students helped with the sneaker collection.  A local gym let them set up a collection box, which was checked every two weeks. Local shoe stores donated to the drive.  Many of the shoes received came from family and friends.

Although sneakers were the focus, other types of shoes were donated.  At a recent sorting event at the Northern Nevada Chapter office, decisions were made about which shoes would be packaged and sent to gotsneakers? for recycling, while others would be sent to people in need.  “I feel very good about what we’ve achieved in a short period of time,” Adi said.

Adi, a senior, added that collecting the sneakers brought in students from other grades who wanted to help.  “They joined with so much enthusiasm,” he recalled.

Next up for the club?  The entire week after fall break, the club will be doing lunch sales in the Coral Academy High School cafeteria.  Funds raised from the sneaker recycling and the lunch sales will go to the school to do more projects and for disaster relief.  The club will be part of the Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Youth Action Campaign.  They will explore topics in international humanitarian law and conduct campaigns to educate others on the topics.