CASA Shoe Drive to Benefit Abused Children of Ocean County
If you’re ready to do some spring cleaning and want to get rid of that closetful of gently worn shoes, CASA of Ocean County will take them off your hands.
The organization is conducting a shoe collection drive through April to raise awareness of child abuse and to raise funds to train more volunteers for CASA, an independent nonprofit that has served as a voice in the courtroom for abused and neglected foster children since 2006.
“We have an upcoming training class for volunteers in April,” said Vicki Weiss, executive director of CASA of Ocean County. Currently, the organization has 11 volunteer advocates and hopes to train an additional nine volunteers to bring the number of advocates up to 20 with the funds from the shoe drive.
Weiss said that the shoe drive is being conducted through Funds2org.com, which helps nonprofits raise money through shoe drives. CASA hopes to raise $3,000 through the shoe drive, she said.
“We are very excited to be conducting this shoe drive in Ocean County. This campaign will raise funds that directly benefit CASA that serves abused children living in foster care by recruiting, training and supervising children’s rights advocates,” Weiss said.
“CASA’s goal is to collect 100 bags of shoes containing 25 pairs of shoes each,” she said, adding that CASA is also seeking additional businesses, schools, or community organizations to volunteer as a drop-off site.
The collected shoes will help benefit microenterprise ventures in developing nations and also keep old shoes out of landfills. In the United States alone, about 630 million pairs of shoes are thrown away each year. The materials used to manufacture a pair of shoes are created from chemical compounds, which can create health hazards if left to disintegrate openly or in landfills, according to the Funds2org.com website.
Shoe donations of any style, size, color or gender can be dropped off at collection boxes located at the CASA office, 1108 Hooper Ave., Building 1, Suite C, Toms River, NJ 08753 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and at the Ocean Township Police Department, 50 Railroad Avenue, Waretown, NJ 08758.
For more information or to host a collection box, contact Vicki Weiss at Vicki@casaofoceancounty.org or by calling 732-797-0590.