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(Fremont County, WY) – The Riverton Rotary Club is launching a boot and shoe drive on July 1 to raise funds for local community projects.
Anyone can help by donating gently worn, used and new shoes at drop box locations around town such as City Hall, and at community events, like Day in the Park (where you’ll get free treats with your donations). The Rotary Club will earn funds based on the total weight of the pairs of gently worn, used and new boots and shoes collected. Those shoes will then find new life within an overseas network of over 21 developing countries such as Haiti, Cambodia, Botswana, and others.
“We are excited about our boot and shoe drive,” said fundraising chair Marcia McBeath. “It’s a different kind of fundraiser. We don’t want you to open your wallet, just open your closet. We know that most people have extra shoes cluttering up their closets and they might like to donate them to a good cause. By doing so, we raise money for the benefit of the Riverton community, and we have the chance to help families in developing nations who need economic opportunities. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
The Riverton community has benefited from various Rotary Club initiatives over the years. Park improvements such as the building of the City Park band shell, the Rotary Dog Park at the River Walk, the storyteller’s theatre at the River Walk, and various green spaces and pocket parks around Riverton have all been products of Rotary Club fundraising and sweat equity. The club also provides scholarships to graduating Riverton seniors each year, as well as sponsorships to send local youth to life-changing leadership conferences. Literacy and community clean up projects, community Thanksgiving dinner support and a wide variety of other service efforts have been annual Rotary events for many years. Funds raised through the boot and shoe drive will enable the club to continue these efforts.
The boot and shoe drive begins July 1 and runs through the first week of October. Some folks may be asked to donate through their workplace or church. But anybody can donate through community drop box locations around town. Those include:
- Rotary booth at DAY IN THE PARK, July 12
- RHS All Class Reunion, July 19
- Jerry’s Flowers
- Wyoming Media/The Ranger
- Details Salon on S. 5th
- First Interstate Bank
- 307 Financial
- REACH Foundation Clubhouse
- Riverton’s City Hall
- Wyoming Community Bank
- County Title
- The Brunton Building & County 10
- Pertech Industries
- Riverton Country Club
- Any BAILEY’S PITSTOP: In Riverton on W. Main, N. Federal and S. Federal, or in Lander
The list expands daily. Just look for the Scoot Those Old Boots & Shoes Drive posters in the window.
All types of boots and shoes are acceptable as long as they are only gently worn – that is they have no holes in the soles, the insoles are intact, they are generally clean and not badly scuffed. Whether they are kids shoes or adults, for men or women, athletic shoes or high heels, used for hiking in the hills, through the snow, or on the ranch, all boot and shoe donations are appreciated.
After the fundraiser is complete, and donations are packaged up to send off, the boots and shoes collected become an economic lifeline for individuals and families living in developing nations. The non-profit organization Funds2Orgs works in those countries with individuals who create micro-businesses, essentially small businesses, that sell the recycled footwear to other people in need.