Shoes donated by Fossil students today will soon help microentrepreneurs in Haiti and Cambodia through an inaugural donation drive sponsored by DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) members. 

“The shoes go to what’s called microentrepreneurs in Haiti and Cambodia so that they can establish their own businesses and their own source of income through stimulating their own economies and their communities,” said Fossil senior Carter Mills, who is organizing the shoe drive with Dawson Willey, another senior. 

Donated shoes will go to the organization called Funds2Orgs, which pays DECA 40 cents per pound of shoes. That money will go to DECA and boys golf. The shoes then get sent from Funds2orgs to Haiti and Cambodia for the microentrepreneurs. Microentrepreneurs are small business owners who have no or few employees that rely on their own savings to start their business serving a niche or local market.

Part of the DECA mission is community service through every chapter, and the Shoe Drive directly fits into that mission, said DECA sponsor Jamie Menefee.

“DECA is a business and marketing organization where high school students and high school students can compete and grow their business skills,” Dawson said.

The pair chose shoes because they are most commonly lying around the house, Mills said. Also, there are not as many store outlets for shoes as for other types of clothing. 

“We just thought we would kind of bring people together with a common problem,” Mills said about the donation drive. “People kind of just want to get rid of this junk, so you can give it to us, and it goes towards a good cause, and it helps benefit our school as well.”

Mills said he hopes donors will make it a family project.

“It doesn’t just need to be your shoes. It can be your parents’, your siblings’, anything like that. And the drop-off box is in the front office,” Mills said.