Don’t throw those old sneakers away – turn them into cash for charity!
Toano resident Erin Pagett is collecting old sneakers at drop-off points through Feb. 15. Pagett will send the shoes off to Green Sneakers, a nonprofit that shares the footwear with people in developing countries. Green Sneakers will donate 50 cents per pound of tennis shoes to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Pagett is also collecting funds for the charity through her Team In Training fundraising page. Team In Training is a sports charity training program that benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society while helping athletes prepare for races.
Running in a marathon is something that Pagett has wanted to do for a while. When she stumbled on the Team In Training website, she knew it was the perfect fit for her. “I lost a very close family friend, Stacy Philips, at the age of 19, after [she was] diagnosed with a rare tumor called a Thymoma,” she says.
Pagett has run some half marathons and is now training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in Washington, D.C., set for April. Anything she gets from the race will go back to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Thinking of her friend motivates her while she runs, says Pagett, and Team In Training is helping her reach her personal goals and raise money for a charity that means a lot to her at the same time.
Her shoe drive is part of her fundraising efforts.
“My goal is to collect 500 pairs [of shoes] by Feb. 15,” Pagett says. “I also take donations thru my website… I would like to raise $3,000.” So far, she’s collected 374 pairs of shoes, and she’s raised $1,783.28.
Pagett has local drop-off locations at the WISC, The James City County Recreation Center and Tidewater Interiors, as well as two locations in Newport News at One Life Gym and The Orthopedic & Spine Center. To learn more about Pagett’s efforts or to donate, visit her training website.
