WATERFORD — Throughout the month of March, the Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District is participating in a kindness project to help make the community and the world a better place. While the district is organizing a series of small acts of kindness that will be highlighted throughout the month, the entire school community is coming together for a shoe donation drive to help underprivileged children in Costa Rica and Africa.
The goal: collect 5,000 pairs of shoes in 15 days.
“We are working diligently to create and support a culture of kindness in our school district, and we want our students to understand how their actions, regardless of size, can have an impact on the world around them,” said Superintendent Michael Healey. “Our message to our students is we can make a difference together as long as we continue to work together. We hope their call to action with this shoe drive will help motivate others to be kind and give back where they can.”
The Kindness Month project was created following an assembly sponsored by the Parent Teacher Organization with Think Kindness founder Brian Williams. Students learned about all the work Brian has done around the world, including donating more than 300,000 pairs of shoes to school-aged children in communities of need. As part of the assembly, Brian challenged students to participate in the 15 Days of Kindness campaign.
Students, family, friends, and community members have been asked to clean out their closets and spare rooms for sneakers that they can donate. Every pair of sneakers collected will be packaged and delivered to orphanages in Costa Rica and Africa.
On Saturday, March 11, the Waterford-Halfmoon Parent Teacher Organization is hosting a shoe collection on the WHUFSD campus at 125 Middletown Road, Waterford. The drive will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Anyone interested in donating shoes is invited to come to help support the students and help them reach their goal.
