CCH students put Faith In Action for shoe drive

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on October 5, 2024.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

What started as a school requirement fulfilment quickly became something three Catholic Central High School students could not get enough of because of the impact it was having on the community.
Three CCH Grade 12 students began to fulfill their 40-hour Faith in Action volunteering requirement for their Religion 30 class and graduation with Shoes 4 Kids YQL and once they took part in their duties they slowly began to do it for more than just their school requirements.
Austin Jones, one of the students, told reporters Friday that on his first day with Shoes for Kids YQL along with his two friends, he just wanted to fulfill his 40 hour requirement, but that changed shortly after.
“We took the opportunity and we actually enjoyed it more than we ever thought we would,” said Jones.
He explained that him and his two friends, Ronin Walcheske and Everett Hauck, were in need of a place to volunteer when they connected with Mallory Kristjanson, president of Shoes for Kids YQL and she offered them to volunteer with her.
“We are so grateful for the three students who are devoting 40 hours of their faith in action hours with Catholic Central High School to help us make sure that every single child in our community has a pair of shoes,” said Kristjanson.
She explained that within the first month of students being back in school Shoes for Kids YQL has helped over 500 students with a brand new pair of shoes.
“We have never seen these numbers before and we needed some extra support. Three students from CCH immediately stepped up when the opportunity was provided to them,” said Kristjanson.
She said they have been helping through a variety of ways to promote the need for children’s shoes around the community.
“We like going downtown together and just hand out these papers (information letter) and it’s really nice. We met lots of nice people,” said Jones.
He said the experience has been humbling and eye opening on how much the community is willing to help with this cause.
“People let us know that we are doing a good job and that’s the main reason people donate, because the kids need shoes,” said Jones.
He said they do not pick shoes up from the people they talk to but they inform them that people can donate shoes all year long at Freddy’s Paint.
“These students are supporting us by getting information letters out to local businesses. They are collaborating with their hockey teams, with their friends, with their family, to help us get the word out,” said Kristjanson.
She said the students also help with inventory counts and distribution of the shoes to the students that need them.
“This is setting youth up to become not only future leaders, but to also be able to understand the reality and the struggle for many people in our community, including some of their friends,” said Kristjanson.
 She added that the Faith in Action program at CCH is also helping them by getting students to volunteer for different charities and not-for-profit organizations.
Papa Darko, a Grade 12 student at CCH, talked about his experience volunteering with another local organization.
“Faith in action is something the school allows us to do in order to graduate. You have to go out in your community and show kindness, be helpful and do what God would do for others,” said Darko.
 He said he fulfilled his requirement by volunteering at the Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization and the experience was very rewarding.
“To me personally, volunteering is very important because you can help other people and not just to graduate, but for thought in your head that I’m being a good person and I’m helping out my community,” said Darko.

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