North Texas high school students hope to change the world one pair of shoes at a time
NORTH TEXAS — A group of North Texas high school students is tackling a global problem: footwear poverty.
Millions of children around the world can't afford shoes and are either going barefoot or making do with a worn-out pair.
It was something Jack Lu, a rising senior at Carroll Senior High School, saw firsthand when he spent time in Haiti for a medical mission trip.
"The shoes have holes in them and there's no shoelaces or anything," he said. "And I just brought it up in a chemistry class, and our chemistry table, we're all friends, and everyone wanted to help out."
The idea grew into the Carroll Shoe Drive Club.
"We honestly weren't expecting to be this big," said Kasra Kiani, co-founder of the group and also a rising senior at Carroll Senior High School. "We thought oh, we could get 100 shoes max."
They managed to gather more than 300 pairs over the school year.
"One day, everyone came to my house and we took a couple hours to clean all the used pairs," Kiani said. "Washed them, everything. We didn't want to give them dirty shoes, obviously. We wanted to make them look as brand new as possible."
The group sent the shoes to Haiti, Iran and across North Texas to kids who need them most.
"It was a rewarding feeling," Lu said. "It was good to know you were actually helping people."
The pair credit the generosity of the Southlake-Carroll community for making the drive so successful.
"And maybe home environment too," said Kiani. "I guess our parents were always like, 'give back to people who need it.'"
The club has upped their goal. They want to get at least 500 pairs of shoes to donate this year. Their focus is on kids' shoes, but they'll accept any pair in good condition.
You can reach out to them on Instagram or by email at carrollshoedriveclub@gmail.com.
