StFX students gather 400 pairs of shoes, raise $390 for Haiti

The tally is in: StFX’s Service Learning Society has gathered 400 pair of shoes in a two-day drive to donate to Shoes for Souls, and has raised $390 to support relief efforts in Haiti.

“This far exceeded our expectations,” says Service Learning Society co-president Kelsey Lynch. “The fundraiser was definitely a success. I am very proud of the StFX community.”

The student society had thrown its support behind Shoes for Souls, a campaign created by Halifax youth Kyle Warkentin who noticed while in Zambia that people walked everywhere bare-footed despite the health hazard of no public garbage collection, and conducted its own shoe drive on the StFX campus Jan. 25-26.

In light of the recent situation in Haiti, a portion of the donated shoes will be sent to support relief efforts there.

The students also hosted a two-day bake sale to raise money for Haiti. The nearly $400 raised from this will go towards the "2 Dollars a Head for Haiti" campaign that a group of StFX students is now spearheading on campus.

Kelsey Lynch says their society is responsible for community based volunteering and “we thought this would be a great opportunity to give back to the devastated nation of Haiti.”