Collegiate Times

Do you have old shoes that you never wear anymore? I’m pretty sure we all do.

If so, be sure to bring them to Cassell Coliseum Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to support the Virginia Tech Track and Cross Country teams’ second annual shoe drive. Student athletes will be there to accept the donations and all types of shoes are accepted.

Depending on the shoe donated, the drive will donate your shoes to Soles4Souls or the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe Program.

“(Soles4Souls) sends shoes worldwide, wherever there is a significant need for shoes,” Danny White, coordinator of student life for the athletics department said. “That could be if there was a recent large disaster, such as a tsunami.

“(The Nike Reuse-A-Shoe Program) only takes running shoes or athletic shoes,” White said. “You donate those to Nike, and they have a system in which they recycle the shoes, and they use them to build playgrounds.”

The recycled shoes go back to the community through community projects.

“Nike builds the black rubber mats that are the foundations for playgrounds out of the shoes that people donate — playgrounds for the inner-city or a community that couldn’t afford a playground.”

The idea of running a shoe drive as a community service project was originally brought up by Stacey Vidt, technical director of track and cross country.

“It’s a nice way to give back, especially since we’re a Nike-sponsored school,” Vidt said.

Olympian and All-American junior hurdler Queen Harrison embraces Vidt’s idea.

“It’s important because we go through so many shoes,” Harrison said. “We just thought it was a good idea to stick with our sport.”

Last year the drive collected 250 shoes. The teams are looking to at least double that number on Saturday.

“We’re really trying to make it an annual thing,” Harrison said. “We know a lot of people have shoes they never wear.”

Donations of $1 are also being accepted to help offset the cost of shipping the shoes.