Soles4Souls: Collecting Shoes for Kids

WAITSBURG - For Waitsburg High School senior Seth Deal, shoes are essential; so hearing that a billion children live in poverty and many don't have shoes was a shock.

Deal is a runner, and his passion for running drove him to focus on running shoes for the research portion of his senior project. When he thought about a charity to work with for his project, he thought a shoe drive would be a good cause to dedicate his time to.

Deal said when he learned about Soles4Souls, it seemed like a perfect fit.

"It means a lot to me to know that I'm doing some- thing for kids not only in America but also across the world," Deal said.

Deal said he was shocked to learn that of the 2.2 billion children in the world, one bil- lion live in poverty, according to a Unicef study. According to a Soles4Souls estimate last year, about 300 million of those children living in poverty lack an adequate pair of shoes.

Those numbers were star- tling to Deal, who knows proper shoes keep him healthy when he runs.

"It was a big eye opener," Deal said. "We take shoes for granted."

Deal said he was really surprised to learn how detri- mental living without shoes was. Many parasites, like hookworm, whipworm and roundworm, are transmitted through the soil.

Those parasites afflict about 740 million people a year, including 44 million pregnant women, according to statistics from Soles4Souls.

So far Deal has collected about two dozen shoes in his box set up in the Link at Waitsburg High School.

Deal is also collecting $1 per pair of shoes to help with the shipping costs.

Deal said he also hopes to collect shoes at the Waitsburg versus Dayton basketball game.

Deal will present the success of his project along with a ten page paper composed of his running shoe literature review and on-site research. He will present the project to a group composed of a mentor, a faculty member and a com- munity member.

After graduation, Deal hopes to attend Lewis-Clark State College, Northwest Christian University or the University of Idaho. He hopes to run cross country and track at whichever school he at- tends and possibly major in business, finance or account- ing.

Deal said organizations like Soles4Souls need people who have an education to run the business side of the charity.

"They need smart business people to help them in their day-to-day work," Deal said.

Deal said he hopes to get involved with Soles4Souls again later in life to con- tinue to help people who need shoes.

Regardless of the school or program, Deal said he wants to be involved in honors pro- grams.

"Academics are just as important to me as running," Deal said.

For more information about the organization, visit soles4souls.org.