March 11, 2008

SANTA CLARA, Calif.- The Santa Clara outdoor track team is collecting athletic shoes this week to serve as donations for homeless people in San Jose and to recycle material into track surfaces.

The goal of the drive is to collect as many unwanted athletic shoes as possible where then the team will deliver them to Athletic Performance store in Los Gatos to benefit the homeless population of San Jose. Shoes that are unable to be reused will be taken to the New Balance store on Santana Row which will recycle the shoes to be made into material for track surfaces.

The idea for the shoe drive was the brainchild of sophomore Stephanie Wilson, who upon receiving her new pair of shoes from the athletic department for the season realized that there were plenty of pairs of athletic shoes that didn't necessarily need to end up in the trash. Wilson, who is from around the Bay area, was aware of Athletic Performance and the New Balance store and decided to encourage her teammates to put their old shoes to better use.

"This is our first year trying a shoe drive, and we're hoping for a good-sized collection for these stores," said senior Noelle Lopez, who is also spearheading the drive. Shoes will be collected in a bucket outside of head coach Tom Service's office in Leavey Center (office faces Buck Shaw stadium) until March 14th.

For more details about the drive, please contact Noelle Lopez at nlopez@scu.edu