ELKVIEW, W.Va. — The school day Thursday at Elkview Middle School in Kanawha County included some quick shoe shopping. Volunteers with Dominion were on hand with boxes of sneakers and tennis shoes that were all donated for students after the June flood.
As heavy rain moved quickly through northern Kanawha County, shoes were carried in by boxloads from three U-Hauls outside and lined up in a school hallway so students could make their selections by size.
“I like the color and the high-top,” said one Elkview Middle School of the shoes she selected which had stripes of flourescent yellow, green and pink.
The shoe drive was dubbed Project S.O.S. for “Sharing Our Souls.”
“Almost all of the children said ‘thank you.’ The kids still have manners today,” reported Christine Mitchell, external affairs representative for Dominion, during the first Elkview Middle shoe stop of the day Thursday.
“They found some personalized notes in their boxes and they were all thrilled with that. They thought it was great that they got to read notes from the person who bought their shoes.”
Mitchell lead the shoe drive that, in the end, brought in an estimated 4,400 pairs of new shoes for students in part of West Virginia hit hard in the June 23 storms.
Donations came in from Dominion workers in 14 states.
With help from monetary donations in addition to the shoes, “We were able to go out and buy what we needed and we still have money left over so we get to add a couple of extra schools,” Mitchell said.
Volunteers were returning to Elkview Middle to distribute shoes to Herbert Hoover High School students later in the day Thursday.
Stops for shoe distributions Thursday also included Bridge Elementary, where Clendenin Elementary School students are also being taught, in Kanawha County and Clay County High School and H.E. White Elementary School in Clay County.
Big Otter Elementary School in Clay County was also getting shoes.
On Friday, shoes will be distributed to students at the following schools in Nicholas County: Richwood High, Richwood Middle, Summersville Middle, Cherry River Elementary, Birch River Elementary and Zela Elementary.