Posted April 14, 2014

St. Francis de Sales School in Aston has partnered with Community Recycling KIDS and ShoeBox Recycling, for-profit recycling companies, to sponsor a shoe and clothing recycle program during the month of April.

The textile recycling program is designed to promote reuse of items while educating children about diverse cultures in far off places. In addition to helping the environment and teaching children about recycling and sustainability, the students will participate in a global mapping project where they will learn about where their items for reuse go and the diverse groups of people who receive them.

Recycling bins are placed throughout the school, and students are encouraged to responsibly discard of their gently used shoes.

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The collection also serves as a fundraiser for the school. The community is invited to participate by donating used clothing and shoes. A pod is located in St. Francis de Sales’ top parking lot by Drayton Road to drop off any used clothing or shoes after Masses.

“We are thrilled to become a part of a meaningful program that encourages our students and our community about small steps that have a large global impact, such as shoe recycling for reuse,” said Maryrose Hall, principal of St. Francis de Sales School. “In addition to mindfulness around shoe reuse, we will be raising funds to support the new My Students’ Progress program. This system would allow parents to view their child’s grades online, along with information on attendance, tuition, discipline, and a dozen other areas of interest.”

An estimated 300 million pairs of reusable shoes end up landfills each year.

“Shoe recycling needs to become as familiar to us all and as easy to perform as bottle, can and paper recycling,” said Lisa Pomerantz of ShoeBox Recycling. “Our collaboration with St. Francis de Sales School is a great way to get this important message out. Our shoes can live on and help people across the world while we inspire a new generation to act responsibly.”

Please contact Barbara Ann Kerezsi at 484-459-5310 or Racine258@aol.com with questions.