Lyndsay Ortwein’s second grade class at Eden Elementary School collected the most pairs of shoes in the No Cold Feet Recycling Challenge.
Submitted photo
From staff reports
GREENFIELD – Nearly 3,000 pairs of shoes were collected by local school children in a friendly competition to donate gently-used items to charity.
The No Cold Feet Recycling Challenge was hosted by Recycle Hancock County, benefiting Changing Footprints in Greenfield, which provides free shoes to whoever is in need of them. Shoes that could not be used by the agency are recycled into playground mulch.
In total, 2,889 pairs of shoes were collected in January.
Dede Allender, director of Recycle Hancock County, reports that since the No Cold Feet competition started in 2017, more than 22,600 pairs of shoes have been donated.
This year, eight local schools collected shoes, and the winning schools were announced in late February based on per capita donations.
First place – for the second year in a row – went to Eden Elementary School, which collected 536 pairs of shoes for an average of about 3.3 pairs per student.
Weston Elementary came in second place. While the Greenfield school actually collected the most total with 773 pairs of shoes, that translated to 2.3 pairs per student placing them second in the competition.
Harris Elementary placed third, with 431 pairs, or 1.5 per student.
In fourth place was JB Stephens Elementary, 467 pairs; fifth place was Sugar Creek Elementary with 423 pairs; sixth place, Greenfield Intermediate School with 141 pairs; seventh place, Maxwell Intermediate School with 113 pairs; and eighth place, Greenfield-Central High School with six pairs of shoes.
The classroom that collected the most was Lyndsay Ortwein’s second grade class at Eden Elementary School, with 193 pairs. Students received pens with the shape of a shoe on the end and a tennis shoe keychain.
Trina Griesmeyer’s first grade class at Weston Elementary collected the next greatest amount with 146 pairs. Jamie Thompson’s Harris Elementary second graders collected 112 pairs.
For more on Recycle Hancock County, visit recyclehancockcounty.com. For details on Changing Footprints, visit changingfootprints.org or facebook.com/changingfootprintshancock.
