Shoe Collection Update

There has been ALOT going on in the past few weeks regarding the shoe collection, with many more pairs of shoes and lives touched!

So far my total number of shoes from the past two years is 24,421 pairs!!!!

As the collection has continued, I now want to know more about the people who receive the shoes and how this collection has changed their lives. Soles4Souls offers a competition where the person who collects the most shoes in a set period of time, earns a trip to where ever Soles4Souls delivers.  I want to go to Haiti.  Since January 2012,  I have collected 16,072 pairs of shoes!!!!  I recently found out that I was in second place, until the St Vincent de Paul Church collection, family and friends drop and the community drop date this past weekend, March 17-18th at St. Vincent de Paul Church. 

This past weekend alone, we collected 3,784 pairs of shoes!!!! It was a HUGE success!!! I now have more shoes than the person who was in front of me, to the best of my knowledge.  

This past weekend I had a LOT of help from my family (Grandma and Grandpa Smith, brother Charles, sister's Grace Anne and Sophia, Mom & Dad), friends (especially - Hailey, Kaitlyn, Erin and Gabby) and also 1-800-GOT-JUNK (Caleb and Cornelius). The Family and Friends collection went really well too bringing in 1,353 pairs of shoes!!!!

Besides the family and friends collection many people from all over collected shoes for the collection, to include: Mr. Gerard - Principal at St. Thomas Catholic School in International Falls, a second grade class in Fridley, a United Methodist Church, a couple doctors and two nurses collected at their clinics.

I was also honored to be featured on the Fox 9 newscast with Maury Glover.  See attached link to that video.  My little brother Charles, REALLY wanted to be on TV.  

Fox 9 Interview with Maury Glover

Today I spoke to 18 classrooms about why I am collecting, how important shoes are and answered their questions about the shoes.  That was fun.  Someone actually called me a "movie star", that was funny.

Looking ahead - I am hoping to continue to collect from many areas bringing in another 7,000-10,000 pair of shoes....I am reaching out to other communities, churches and have been in contact with KTIS - planning for another 1 or 2 community wide collections in the next 5 weeks!!!!!  Please pray for the success of this collection, for those who have given of themselves and for those who will be receiving the shoes!

I am thankful for all of the support from so many people that I know, and so many that I don't know.  I keep saying how cool it is how one small idea has turned into something so big.

Here is Mr Gerard, principal at St Thomas Catholic School in International Falls

Gabby holding one of the cute boxes that a second grade class made for their collection!

....here is a closer look at the box!  Isn't this so cute!!!!!

  

1-800-GOT-JUNK, Caleb & Cornelius helped us sort, tie, bag and load the 3,775 pair of shoes onto their truck!  THANK YOU!!!!

COMMUNITY DROP DAY

18,548 pair of shoes......and still counting!!!!!  Thank you for your support!  Make sure to mark your calendars for the community wide drop on Sunday, March 18th from 1-4PM at St Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Brooklyn Park!  Bring your old, new and gently used shoes!  THANK YOU!

Shoes, Shoes and more Shoes

   There are many things that have happened in the past few months, and even MORE shoes. First I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming amount of support! I have been working hard to try and get this project out to everyone and anyone. It has definitely paid off!! I have collected 16,529 pairs of shoes, and I am still moving forward!!! Many different communities have joined my efforts to collect shoes for the people around the world: to include schools, local businesses, churches and road races.

• Totino-Grace High School
• DeLaSalle High School
• Holy Family High School
• Hill Murray High School
• Partnership Academy
• Convent of the Visitation School
• Andrea Schroeder - St. John the Baptist Church and Elementary School
• St. Vincent de Paul Church and School
• Twin Cities in Motion - Valentine's Day, and St. Patrick's Day Run
• Family and Friends Neighborhood Collections:
• Janice Smith - White Bear Lake
• Amy - Maple Grove
• Gabby - Champlin
• Jackie - Plymouth
• Andrew - Plymouth
• Cassie - Maple Grove
• Mariah - Maple Grove
• Grace Anne - Maple Grove
• Erin - Maple Grove
• Grace - Champlin
• Anna - Maple Grove
• Erika - Maple Grove
• Anna - Andover
• Andy - Andover
• Sydney - Champlin
• Michaela - Champlin
• Sidney - Champlin
• Caitlyn - Maple Grove
• Allison - Maple Grove
• Jackie Green - River Falls
• Patrick - Chanhassen
• Daniel & Mary Ann Parent - Bonita Springs, FL

   It has been a great honor to be recognized by so many, to include the Star Tribune, the Catholic Spirit and as the "Rockstar Donor" from Soles4Souls please click on those links below for those stories. 

Star Tribune, Catholic Spirit and Rockstar Donor 

   Other great events since my last post I have entered the Travel4Souls challenge. I am trying to collect as many shoes as I can in the next few months, date ranges of January 1 - April 31, 2012. My ambitious goal is to collect 20,000 ADDITIONAL pair of shoes. You can watch the Soles4Souls leader board to see how I am doing. 

Leader Board

   If you are interested in collecting shoes in your neighborhood or dropping shoes off please contact me. I am also hosting a community shoe drop on March 18th from 1 - 4 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 9050 93rd Avenue, Brooklyn Park, MN. 

   I have also been blessed to partner with two great companies, Tim Holtan with On Time Delivery Services, and Chris Koehnen with 1-800-GOT-JUNK Twin Cities. Please show your support by contacting them with any of your needs.

On Time Delivery Services

1-800-GOT-JUNK

   While sitting in front of the fire place one day doing my homework this past week, my phone vibrated with a call from a restricted number. I hesitated, but answered and found myself speaking to Wayne Elsey, the Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls.  He had heard about my project and wanted to call to thank me.  I was too surprised by his call to even engage in a conversation.  Hopefully I will have a chance to talk to him again, when I earn the trip with Travel4souls!!!!

   In my spare time here is what I have been doing....studying, playing basketball, making cookies and creating wordles....see attached!

Here's to 20,000 pairs of shoes!!

The Shoe Collector Newscast on 11-30-11

This morning I had the honor of being interviewed by channel 45 regarding the shoe collection. I really appreciate all of the support, comments, and feelings that you have shared with me. I love doing this project as it fills me up to the very top, with joy, love, respect and many more.

I keep uncovering how God works in such mysterious ways.  For example, during the first collection when I was "buried" under 4,000 pairs of shoes from my church and school,  I grew concerned about how Flip Flop Fleet would be able to store the MANY shoes that I had acquired, and how they were going to get the shoes to the people around the world in need.  As the shoes kept coming in, I received a random email from Soles4Souls, asking for people to donate shoes and where you could drop them.  Before this email, I had never heard of Soles4Souls!  That opened many different doors for me and I knew that God had answered my prayers.

The next experience that I had was when I shipped off the first load of about 5,000 pairs of shoes. I felt a sense of relief, but felt that I could do even more.  I was grateful for the sacrifice and giving of Mr Tim Holtan and On Time Delivery Service for transporting the load to the nearest Soles4Souls drop point in Sheldon, Iowa.  The very next day I received a call from my orthodontist asking me to come in to the office, because they had something that they wanted to give me. When I got there I found out that I had won a contest, and received an awesome prize. If you know the Baker Family, we never "win" anything at all. :) I told my mom that I had won and she said that it was God saying "Good job my servant."

The most recent time was just this afternoon after school. At the end of the school day there are announcements that are said before we are dismissed. Well today was a "special" announcement, Mr. Ferguson came on and said "Freshman Claire Baker was interviewed this morning by channel 45 about a shoe collection project that she does. Her segment will be aired tonight on channel 45 at 4 o'clock. Be sure to tune in!" I had absolutely no idea that anyone would say anything about it, especially on the announcements! I honestly thought that my mom had said something to the main office about it. When I got in the car to ask her, she had no idea what I was talking about, and promised that she did not call the school. I still have absolutely no idea who told the office about the interview, but I think that it was really cool and many people were very intrigued. Several people asked me what the project was about, and how they could help.

"To the world you may just be one small person, but to one small person, you may just be the world."  Today, I still feel like one small person, but I AM changing the world, one pair at a time!

Here is a link to the news clip and a photo of me with the journalist and videographer.  I hope you are inspired to find some shoes to donate!

http://www.twelve.tv/news/newsitem.aspx?newsid=318&newsitemid=17772

12,552.5 Pairs of Shoes and counting...

I have had an enormous amount of support from different schools, businesses, friends and family. I have enjoyed every moment that I have had collecting, counting, speaking, and meeting with people about my project.

Recently I had the opportunity to speak and collect shoes at Benilde-St. Margaret's High School. As most of you know I go to Totino-Grace High School, and there is a strong rivalry between the Red Knights and Eagles. BSM generously donated 1,534.5 pairs of shoes. Totino-Grace will be collecting in January during Winter Week (Catholic Schools Week) I am looking forward to challenging the students at TG to top the Red Knight's collection total!

If your school community or business would like to collect or donate shoes please contact me at clairefrances@comcast.net. 

Here is a list of the schools, organizations, races and churches that I have collected at to date.

St Vincent de Paul Church and School, Brooklyn Park - 4279

Upsher Smith, Maple Grove - 266

St Joseph the Worker Church, Maple Grove - 76

Maple Grove Covenant Church, Maple Grove - 1195

Maple Grove Junior High,  1068

Maple Grove Senior High, 151

Lord of Life Church, Maple Grove - 485

Rotary Club of Maple Grove - 130

Family and Friends of Jeanne Indermill, Red Wing - 402

Oak View Elementary, Maple Grove - 354

Cedar Island Elementary, Maple Grove - 161

Twin Cities Valentines Run 2011 - 131

Twin Cities St Patricks Day Run 2011 - 273

Twin Cities High Healed Dash 2011 - 72

Twin Cities Kids Run, Como Park 2011 - 29.5

Twin Cities 4th of July Run, 2011 - 69

Twin Cites Marathon Family Events, 2011 - 69

Sean Silvera 5K, 2011 - 75

Faster than the Pastor 5K, 2011 - 75

Epiphany Catholic Church, Coon Rapids - 283

St Alphonsus Catholic School, Brooklyn Center - 232

Transfiguration Catholic Church - 404

St Bridgets Catholic Church, Lindstrom - 49

Benilde-St Margaret's High School, St Louis Park - 1534.5

Bibi Gluckman, New Jersey - 149

Family & Friends - 539

Me on top of the shoes in the warehouse where I store them until shipping...

A recipient of the collection in Haiti, notice the other shoes around him.

These are children from the orphanage in Port-Au-Prince who received the shoes....very exciting to see their happy faces.

Jeanne, Red Wing

17 Degrees....collecting shoes at the Valentine's day run at Lake Harriet

The biggest pair - size 15 from Lord of Life Church in Maple Grove

On Time Delivery Service - Mr. Holtoan, loading up the second shipment of shoes!  Thank you Mr Holtan!

Sorting & Counting at Transfiguration Church in Oakdale.

Mrs Vanderpool......

Speaking to the confirmation class at Epiphany in Coon Rapids.

I am grateful for MY shoes......

The Begining

It all started with one homework assignment for a community service project, in February 2010.

I was brainstorming on what I could do on my way home from school that day. I told my mom about the project that we had to do. She had mentioned that our family friends the Shelton's who had started a organization to collect shoes for kids in Haiti (for more information on the Shelton's organization, go to flipflopfleet.blogspot.com).

After the 7.1 horrible disastrous earthquake hit, I thought that it would be a great service project to do for school, because kids couldn't go to school without shoes on their feet.

In February I got all of my contacts and dates rolling with the project. In March I went into all of the 18 classrooms in my school sharing the story about the people have in Haiti and the effects of the earthquake on their lives. I then encouraged my schoolmates to donate shoes from the back of their closets. In March I was also interviewed by KTIS (Christian Radio), as well as channel 5, Twin Cities Live. Both of these interviews brought in several hundred pair of shoes across the Twin Cities.
Twin Cities Live Interview

April came and I began collecting shoes through my church community. The shoes poured in and the space in my parents garage shrank.

In May I completed my initial collection and began the long process of sorting, counting, and organizing the 4,142 pairs of flip flops, high heels, tennis shoes, kids shoes, sandals, size 16 converse high tops, and a variety of many more. Only one huge hurdle was left...how do I get the shoes to those in need?

On Time Delivery Services learned of my collection, and project donating the man power, vehicle, gas, and time to transport the shoes to a warehouse facility in Shelton, Iowa.

June more shoes rolled in. I collected shoes from my church's vacation bible school. All of these shoes were given to the Flip Flop Fleet Organization, and my garage was empty.