Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2010 / St. Pius X runners collect shoes for the homeless
St. Pius X runners collect shoes for the homeless
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published July 2, 2010
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Photos by Fr. Robert McCabe
St. Pius X second-grader Kaela Moreno loading shoes collected for the homeless by the school's Running Club. |
DETROIT – When St. Pius X School parent Mark Sirois was searching for a good service project for the Southgate school's Running Club, he thought about the photo essay on the homeless his pastor, Fr. Robert McCabe, had done for Hour magazine.
And so, Sirois, who had been coaching the club since it started in January, hit upon the idea of having the kids collect shoes for the homeless.
So far, the kids have collected more than 300 pairs of shoes, as well as more than $400 in cash to turn over to ChristNet, a partnership of Wayne County Catholic and Protestant churches, which will distribute the donated shoes and use the money to purchase additional shoes and socks.
The homeless may not do much running, but they tend to do a lot of walking, and therefore tend to wear shoes out more quickly than most people. "This is their main form of transportation – their feet," Sirois says.
That makes donations of new or "gently used" athletic shoes an excellent way of helping homeless persons lead better lives, he explains.
Men's work boots are also very useful, as many of the jobs a homeless man might have a chance of getting require the applicant to have a pair of work boots, he adds.
On the other hand, dressier shoes, especially high-heeled women's fashion footwear, are not of much use to the homeless, Sirois says.
Some of the money donations have just come in from people wanting to help the effort, but some have been from pledges that were tied to how many miles the children could rack up by the end of the school year.
"We had set a mileage goal of 1,500 miles, the distance from Southgate to Los Angeles, and some people pledged $15 if we could do it," Sirois explains.
Club members run on Tuesdays after school and on Saturday mornings.
On Saturdays, the kids come with their families, and Sirois says that tends to "help stimulate their long-term interest in fitness."
Sirois awards a little plastic running shoe for every five miles a child runs, and he says he often overhears a child ask, "Dad, can I run an extra mile? I want to earn a shoe today."
The kids' enthusiasm for the program, and its success, have not only caused Sirois to want to see it continue, but he is hoping other Downriver area Catholic schools will also get involved.
And he adds that he is hoping the older kids in the club will be able to pretty much run the shoe drive themselves. The Running Club has about 30 members in grades three through eight, plus about 10 more in younger grades.
Fr. McCabe praised Sirois as a "fine man" who has done wonderful work with the Running Club members.
"Mark is a great role model, who helps our young people not only to grow in physical fitness, but is also concerned for their spiritual development," he says.
The shoe drive is a "simple idea, and an example of how a simple idea can have such a far-reaching effect on the lives of needy people," Fr. McCabe says.
The effort has already begun to make a difference, and he predicts it will continue to make a difference in the lives of area homeless.
"I have met homeless persons who lost their feet to frostbite because they didn't have decent shoes and socks in the winter," Fr. McCabe adds.
Sirois, 46, has two children at St. Pius X School – Jacques, 11, and Mary, 8.
A runner himself, he recently finished the Traverse City-Bayshore Marathon in northern Michigan, and will be running in the next Boston Marathon.
To donate shoes, socks or money to the Running Club's shoe drive for he homeless, call St. Pius X Parish, (734) 285-1100.
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