Honors Society students at Fred Rodgers Magnet Academy in East Aurora School District 131 are helping Aurora Lions Club members collect sneakers for recycling.
During October, society students collected 32 pairs of sneakers. Susan Koepke and Jay Short, Lions president and first vice president/co-service chair, respectively, visited the school to award an appreciation certificate to student Ivonne Rivera. She discovered the Lions of Illinois Foundation’s “Gotsneakers” program and worked with society teacher Laura Krueger to make it a service project for the honors students.
Koepke said, “The Rodgers students’ collections will be added to our existing collection and forwarded to the DeKalb-based Foundation.”
The DeKalb-based Lions of Illinois Foundation has teamed up with gotsneakers.com to collect used sneakers. With sneaker recycling, the Foundation generates funds to fuel ongoing endeavors, including a mobile screening unit and Camp Lions initiatives.
Gathering sneakers not only supports the Lions of Illinois Foundation but benefits communities and the environment! It helps to keep sneakers out of landfills, minimizes the need to manufacture new shoes, and promotes the growth of a circular economy.
—Al Benson