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The red canvas high-tops still have the price tag attached, recently plucked off a nearby store shelf.
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Rev. Roger Claxton boxes up 65 pairs of donated new and used shoes on Thursday at Grace Memorial Episcopal Church in Wabasha. The shoes, donated to Soles 4 Souls, will be on display with an expected 35,000 pairs at the Mayo Civic Center during the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota’s convention today and Saturday.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News)
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Many of the smaller ones — the pair of gray-and-blue Nikes with a few scuffs on the side, the pink, Disney-themed tennis shoes with pictures of Cinderella and her evil step-sisters on the sides — have likely been outgrown by the children who once wore them, the Rev. Roger Claxton supposes.
Claxton proves less sure about the history of a pair of white women’s dress shoes, but he imagines a bright future.
“These could make some young girl’s day, just that unexpected something,” said the pastor of Wabasha’s Grace Memorial Episcopal Church.
The Wabasha donations serve as a local example in a statewide effort. Episcopal congregations across Minnesota have collected footwear for Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization that distributes donated shoes to needy individuals in the United States and abroad.
Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota officials organized the effort as a way to celebrate 150 years of the church in the state, with a goal of providing thousands of unexpected somethings to those in need worldwide.
The 100-member congregation of Grace Memorial collected about 65 pairs of new or gently worn shoes since early September. Bags of shoes would just show up in the collection box, Claxton said.
“Pretty soon, it was getting full,” he said. “It was really impressive to see.”
The local response is not an anomaly. The outpouring of donations statewide shocked one of the event organizers, especially given how it came about.
Diocese officials stumbled into the shoe drive idea as they searched for a statewide effort that could culminate at the diocese’s 150th anniversary convention, said Wendy Johnson, the diocese’s communications effort.
Johnson rattled off stories of churches collecting enough shoes to fill large trucks or even a recreational vehicle.
“A couple of congregations called because they have more shoes than they can ship,” she said.
Organizers estimate more than 35,000 shoes will be collected statewide, and Johnson said many of them will be displayed during the two-day convention in Rochester, Minn., which starts today. After the convention, the shoes will be packed into a semitrailer provided by Soles4Souls.
“(Soles4Souls officials) said they’ve never been involved in anything like this,” she said. “It’s the largest statewide shoe drive in history.”
Claxton pointed to the focus of the drive — putting unused shoes in Minnesota back to good use elsewhere — as a reason for the effort’s success. Johnson echoed that sentiment.
“It’s just so simple, and so doable, and so elemental,” she said. “It’s something we can do.”
Dustin Kass may be reached at (507) 453-3513 or dkass@winonadailynews.com.
