Nearly a decade old in the making, the East Tennessee Christian Home & Academy’s specialized drive continues to serve the purpose of helping others, while helping children in the area.
ETCHA is currently holding their eighth annual shoe drive that allows children to get involved to help others that are in need of the items.
“We’ve typically collected between 6,000 to 8,000 pounds worth of shoes,” ETCHA Director of Development Ron Marvel said. “The shoes directly go to people in Haiti or Africa who have no shoes at all. It’s a win-win for us because we get the girls involved with service by helping others and we also get 20 cents per pound donated back into the ministry.”
The process is simple for those looking to get involved, according to Marvel.
“People can either bring them directly here to the campus and drop the shoes off at the gym or they can go to any Northeast Community Credit Union Bank branch and drop them off there,” he said.
There’s no requirement for shoes. Items can either have shoe strings or not but ETCHA does ask for no spiked high heels and for the shoes to be bagged and rubber banded, if possible.
“Every year we hope for a pound more,” Marvel said about the drive, which ends May 15. “It sort of varies each year though.”
While ETCHA prepares for another event, they are currently coming off one of the more successful “Give Thanks” campaigns — a fundraiser created to help fund the operations of the facility.
“We are just now coming off our ‘Give Thanks Campaign’ and it was our most successful campaign to date,” Marvel said. “We came up just a few thousand dollars short of our $40,000 goal but it is definitely not too late to give to that. Those monies are vital to us right now because it helps us keep our doors open so we can keep serving the children in the area.”
Since its creation in 1946, ETCHA serves children in the region and helps instill four characteristics for their growth.
• Social and emotional growth
• Family Life
• Academics
• Spiritual Life
For more information about the shoe drive or to make a donation to the facility, visit etcha.org or call 542-4423.