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Issue 1

September 27th, 2019

Clubs serve others with Sole 2 Soul

MON. | 11-14-22 | NEWS

     Sole 2 Soul is an organization that collects shoes and then donates them to children in need. Sole 2 Soul was brought back to Rose by junior Emma West for the first time in several years.

     “My dad was friends with the guy who created it; we had talked about it and I just decided this summer I wanted to bring it to Rose,” West said. 

     The project will start collecting donations from Tuesday, Oct. 11 through Thursday, Nov. 17. Organizations including National Honor Society, Health Occupational Students of America, Future Business Leaders of America and Student Government Association are helping provide shoes for Sole 2 Soul.

     “At open house I went up to Mrs. Byrne and Mr. Garner and talked to them about it and they said it was a good idea, so I talked to the creator of Sole 2 Soul,” West said. “We set a date and reserved the lecture hall to tell students about it.”

     West is planning to continue this project throughout the following years.

     “I definitely want to continue this my senior year and then hopefully once I graduate, a student can take the leadership role and continue it,” West said.

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Photo by Mary Elizabeth Hutchinson 

     The organization was started by John Fagala and his daughter Kelli Fagala in March 2017. Since it started, Sole 2 Soul has partnered with over 200 schools, organizations and churches.

     “We started Sole 2 Soul because kids need shoes and food.It gives us an opportunity to give back every single day,” Fagala said.

     Sole 2 Soul has provided 185,000 pairs of shoes to kids in 24 countries and expects to obtain about 25,000 pairs in 2022.

     The project is looking for gently used tennis shoes, flip flops and Crocs. 

     “Sole 2 Soul takes donations through our website and also we partner with outside organizations to create shoe drives and awareness days in their communities,'' Fagala said. Awareness and name recognition is huge to the long term success. 

     Both West and Fagala are excited to continue this project and help others.

     “It makes me really excited to realize that kids who have never owned a pair of shoes in their life might get a pair of shoes that I've owned in the past and also giving back and helping other people makes me really happy,” West said.

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