EPCHS Students Organize Sneaker Drive For Christmas Without Cancer

EVERGREEN PARK, IL – The junior Physical Education leadership class taught by Ree
McDonald at Evergreen Park Community High School is teaming up with Christmas Without
Cancer to collect gently used and new sneakers as part of the non-profit organization’s latest
sneaker drive.

EPCHS, 9901 S. Kedzie Ave., will serve as a drop-off location for the drive until May 6. New or gently-worn sneakers of any brand (child sizes 4 and up and any adult sizes) will be collected from the public at the EPCHS main entrance, during school hours 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Students and staff members at EPCHS can drop off their donations at the main entrance, the
Physical Education office or Room 146 (health office). Donations from the public and school
community will also be accepted during the Evergreen Park Mustangs home baseball and softball games against Tinley Park High School on May 4.

The shoes will be donated to GotSneakers, a sneaker recycling program that raises money for
each pair of used shoes, with the goal of keeping sneakers and gym shoes out of landfills and
reusing the sneakers for people in need.

At least 200 million pairs of shoes and sneakers end up in landfills across the United States
each year. Since sneakers are manufactured with materials that are not biodegradable and
produce large amounts of CO2, they remain in landfills or are incinerated, which leads to toxic
chemicals in our air and soil. Shoes in landfills can take 30 to 40 years to decompose.

Every pair donated as part of the drive will raise money for Christmas Without Cancer, a nonprofit that helps local families battling the devastation of cancer. CWC identified needs and then provides gifts and basic necessities to Chicagoland families with members stricken with cancer so to allow the beauty of Christmas to shine through while family members find comfort in their devotion to one another, according to the organization’s website.

Residents throughout Evergreen Park and surrounding towns and neighborhoods are
encouraged to go through closets and gather as many pairs of sneakers that are no longer
wanted. Family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and anyone in your social networks should be
asked to help out because every pair counts.