The Salem Rotary Club is continuing a tradition of providing shoes to students in need.
The club is presenting certificates to the principals of all of the schools that feed into Salem Community High School.
Club President Greg Jones and Secretary Brenda Jones were at Franklin Park and Hawthorn School this week. They will also make presentations at Selmaville, Kell, and Iuka Schools.
Greg Jones says the community has been great about supporting the program that was taken over by the Salem Rotary after the longtime sponsoring Kiwanis Club folded.
“We raised the money this year just form donors in the Salem area, businesses and individuals. We sent out a fundraising letter to a lot of the members of the Salem Chamber of Commerce and we have received from that around $2500 so far but donations are still coming in. We will use that to fund the project at all five schools.”
Jones says their initial goal was to provide certificates for 100 students to get new shoes, but that number can go up due to the amount of money raised. He explained why the program was undertaken.
“We noticed awhile back that there was a need for shoes in the community. There were a lot of kids who just didn’t have adequate shoes, especially in the winter months. And this just seemed like the right thing to do for the youth who need here in Salem.”
Donations may be made through the Rotary Club. Box Drop of Salem is also serving as a drop off point for donations and new pairs of shoes.
The project is chaired by Sue Davis who had also coordinated the program for the Kiwanis Club.
