On September 8th, Hurricane Irma passed by Haiti and left homes and farms in ruins. People have been doing their best to clean up the damage, but it’s difficult without proper equipment.  Most importantly, footwear. Luckily, an art teacher at Menchville has a plan to help.

Ms. Pat Clancy has started a shoe drive to collect shoes for the people in Haiti. Students can bring shoes to her classroom which she will give to a company called Thrive that has connections to Haiti.

“You can’t clean up if you don’t have something on your feet because there’s glass, there’s rock, there’s concrete, there’s chunks of metal, there’s everything all over the place, and how are you going to do that barefoot?” says Clancy. “I actually saw somebody who had tied cardboard to the bottom of their foot.”

So far fifteen pairs of shoes have been donated. Clancy urges students to collect shoes from other students in their classes. She also has advice for students who want to get involved in their own community service projects. “Connect to businesses that are already doing stuff, learn how it works, and participate through volunteering, and then you can do your own thing.”

Clancy will be collecting shoes until October.