Oak Forest High School DECA Students Collect 1,300 Pairs of Shoes

DECA, or Distributive Education Clubs of America is a group of students who seek to learn marketing, business, and leadership skills through academic conferences and competitions. Across the nation, DECA classes and clubs are held in both the high school and collegiate setting. At Oak Forest High School, DECA is an elective class. Each year, students find creative ways to earn funds which will go towards their national competition expenses.

This year, DECA student president Jack Doolin decided he wanted to do something different – raise funds for the DECA national competition while also helping the world. He teamed up with his DECA peers Nate Barbato and Justin Skrzelowski and together they launched a shoe donation campaign through Funds2Orgs.

Every pair of shoes gathered through the campaign would be sent to Funds2Orgs who would then send the shoes to third world countries such as Honduras, Haiti, and Gona. The bonus? Funds2Orgs would give Oak Forest High School DECA 40 cents per pound of shoes. The students set their goal at 25 bags figuring that would pay for the shipping costs of the shoes. If they could break even while also helping people across the world, then it would still be a success.

Doolin immediately put his business skills to use and sought out meaningful partnerships. He landed on the Bettenhausen Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Dealer in Orland Park who kicked off the Oak Forest High School homecoming parade this year by allowing DECA students to drive a Jeep Gladiator in the parade. Doolin and Bettenhausen took this collaboration one step further, deciding they would fill the same Jeep Gladiator to the top with shoes.

And they did.

Needless to say, students weren’t disappointed to discover their hard work of collecting shoes from September to December resulted in a final total of 53 bags or 1,300 pairs of shoes.

All the additional funds raised from the campaign will go towards the students’ trip to the DECA national competition which takes place the weekend of April 29. So far, four Oak Forest High School students have qualified for the tournament.

DECA Teacher Katie Gomez says, “The number of students who qualify for nationals will only go up from there as the school year continues.”