Plainfield Students Donate 1,000 Pairs of Shoes

PLAINFIELD, IL -- Charles Reed Elementary School students may never look at shoes the same way again.

The school collected more than 1,000 pairs of new and used shoes for the Soles4Souls organization. The nonprofit gives the shoes to help people who are in need worldwide.

But before they were shipped off, Charles Reed social worker JoAnn Gumienny asked Yorkville-based Labyrinths in Stone to create a life-size “reflection” labyrinth with the shoes that the students could walk.

She wanted to give the students a chance to really understand how these shoes will help others.

Students were encouraged to think about how many less fortunate people the shoes would help as they walked the labyrinth, Gumienny said.

“The idea was to truly drive home the lesson of walking in others shoes to develop empathy and caring and to realize that every one voice and person matters and makes a difference,” she said.

Many students took that message to heart as they walked through the labyrinth. Some cried and hugged each other as they entered the center of the labyrinth.

Two classes brought in more than half of the shoes collected.

Kelly Hatzer’s third-graders brought in 316 pairs and Tracey Kirk’s fifth graders donated 571 pairs.

The mom of one of Hatzer’s students, Alexander “AJ” Garcia, helped bring in a van load of shoes from a local running club.

“My heart is filled with so much pride for my class,” Kirk said.

Kirk and Hatzer’s classes also waged a friendly competition to see which class could bring in the most shoes.

But the real winners were the students themselves who learned an important lesson about charity and community.

“In the end our students knew that this was for more than just winning a contest, it was for knowing that we had a part in doing something good in this world,” Hatzer said, “and that’s really all that matters.”

Submitted by District 202